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Format: Novel
Chapters: 55
Word Count: 133,630
Status: COMPLETED
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Strong Language, Strong Violence, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Substance Use or Abuse, Sensitive Topic/Issue/Theme
Genres: Drama, Romance
Characters: Lupin, Sirius, A. Longbottom, Lily, James, Pettigrew, OC
Pairings: Sirius/OC, James/Lily, OC/OC, Remus/OC
First Published: 02/25/2010
Last Chapter: 03/23/2012
Last Updated: 01/21/2013
Summary:
After leaving her small French magic academy, Coralie Bennett starts at Hogwarts with her younger brother, all hoping for a fresh start and a new life. Little does she know that the people her family are running away from have close ties in England, too...
Secrets, lies and heart-ache follow her, but so do close friendships and a family stronger than she realises.
Banner: Autumn.Shades@TDA|Beta: TenthWeasley
Disclaimer; I proudly own The Bennett Family, Emma and the plot. The title of this story is owned by Taylor Swift, I do not claim to own them. The rest belongs to J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading. My amazing chapter image is by !lifeisasong @ TDA, thank you so much :D Amazing beta reading/editing by AquariaJasmyne!
Coralie Bennett dragged her feet along the ground as she swung back and forth. She was unsure of the exact time, perhaps one or one-thirty. She knew it was late, though, very late. Recently, she'd been spending more time here than she spent at home. The beach side park was filled with screaming children and their parents during the day. At night, however, Coralie had the whole place to herself and she liked it like that. She was one of those girls who often got described as weird just because she liked to be alone. There were rumours around school that she killed her parents and now she was insane, however, the last time she checked, her parents were alive and well. Her best friend Emma knew this as well as a handful of her other friends, but she didn't like to share her life story with people she hardly knew.
Her family, The Bennett's, were like that. Coralie remembered her father telling her once when she was very young; 'tell no one your fears and you will be fearless'. At that age, she didn't understand what her father was trying to tell her.
Even though she was now sixteen, she still didn't know.
Her father, Pierre JeanBennett, had left when she was two years old. Her mother, Marcelle Bennett (nee De Luca), had just fallen pregnant with another child and Coralie's parents fought about whether to keep it or not. One day, Marcelle woke up and decided she was going to keep it, so Pierre left without warning or a goodbye. As she felt tears sting her eyes, Coralie stood up from the swing and began to walk home.
Wiping the tears away, she finally stumbled up her street and into her gravel driveway, being careful not to stand on any sharp rocks. Coralie pulled onto the escape fire ladder that she and her siblings used whenever they were sneaking out (their mother never cared to check on her children and therefore didn't know about the ladder). As she reached the top, she sighed, nervous about starting her new school called Hogwarts tomorrow.
Feeling the drowsiness start, she realised just how long she'd been out and just how tired she actually was. Slipping into her bed, she curled into a ball and quickly fell asleep, not wanting to be too tired for her first day.
Coralie awoke the next morning to the sun spilling through the cracks in her curtains. She slowly opened her eyes, savouring the silence.
However, barely a moment later, her sister shrill yelling began, complaining about burnt toast.
Slightly annoyed, Coralie stood up and pushed open the door to her walk-in wardrobe. Pulling out some simple jeans and her favourite pastel green sweater, she quickly got dressed before making her way to the bathroom. Staring at the mirror, Coralie sighed. Her curly blonde hair, as always, was a complete mess. She brushed it through without much effort as it never behaved the way she wanted it to. She glared at one particularly stubborn curl, before she stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Morning, mother," she said politely with a kiss on her mother’s cheek.
"Good morning, Coralie,” her mother returned, looking up from the morning paper and giving a smile that reached her deep blue eyes. “The apple juice is in the fridge and the toast is already in the toaster."
Coralie gave a quick nod and grabbed a couple of glasses from the cupboard. Pulling open the fridge she grabbed the apple juice and filled each of the glasses before placing the juice back and sitting at dining table. Taking a sip of her juice, she smiled as her sister, Violet, took a seat across from her.
She and Violet looked almost identical and, more than a few times, they had been mistaken as twins (at which time Violet would scrunch up her nose before racing to the bathroom to cake even more make up onto her already heavily made-up features. Violet was under the impression it made her look older. Coralie, however, had other thoughts). They both had long, curly blonde hair that cascaded halfway down their backs and the same deep blue eyes (though people were certain Coralie's glistened more than Violets'. Violet, of course, did not like this). The two sisters rarely saw eye to eye; Violet being one of the girls who thought the universe revolved around her, and always had to be better than everyone else. Coralie hated this in a person. In fact, she had had several friends who were exactly the same and often avoided spending time with them. Violet, being Violet, saw absolutely nothing wrong with her attitude.
Coralie had an older sister, Allisyn, who was twenty-two and lived in London with her daughter, Haylie. She and Allisyn got along much better than she and Violet ever would. Allisyn was just the kind of person who was friends with everyone. She had short black hair and brown eyes, both of which she got from their father, as well as the clear, pale skin as all the children had
Jacob was Coralie's older brother by three years. He, like Allisyn and their father, had messy black hair and brown eyes. Jacob was known for playing the guitar until daylight. He lived for music – he and best friend even had a band, however, they had yet to come up with a suitable name.
Coralie also had one younger sibling; a thirteen year old brother named Angus. He was like a miniature, male version of Coralie. Both had the same shade of blonde hair (except his was short) and the same captivating blue eyes. The two of them were extremely close.
"Earth to Cora," Angus said with a mouthful of cereal as he shook his hand in front of her face. Coralie rolled her eyes - she had been off in her own little world again. Angus liked to annoy her when she was like this as she went along with whatever anyway was saying. This time, however, she hadn't even noticed Angus had entered the room.
"Earth to Angus - chew with your mouth closed," she teased, sighing, as she took a bite of her toast. "Is Jake up?" she asked no one in particular.
"Of course not, it's eight o'clock,” Violet began distastefully, rolling her blue eyes, “he's never-”
“-I checked with him last night and he said he'll take you and your brother down to King's Cross today," Marcelle explained to her children, cutting off Violet before she could start complaining about Jacob's laziness. She busied herself with clearing the kitchen table, tying her wavy blonde hair into a knot on the top of her head as she did so.
"Oh, that's right, you leave today, don't you?” Violet simpered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, how peaceful it'll be without you two losers," she added.
"Vi will go along to wish you two farewell," Marcelle said pointedly, smirking back at Violet, before smiling widely at Angus and Coralie. The two latter were staring nervously between each other. "Now, run along, you two. Finish packing and wake up your brother!"
Coralie and Angus raced up the stairs, not bothering to help their mother tidy up the breakfast dishes. "Oh, and Angus, a bucket of water is not what I define as waking you're brother up! Got it?!" Karoline informed him loudly.
Angus grinned, looking down the banister to see his mother standing at the foot of the stairs with an eyebrow raised pointedly. "Thanks for the idea mum!" he called back wickedly.
An hour later both trunks were packed in the boot of Jacob's 'brand new' second hand car. It was a cute blue beetle that Jacob and his best friends Martin and Brian had found down at the tip. The three of them had tried to fix it up and had eventually succeeded. In celebration, they, along with Coralie, took it down to the beach after dark.
However, the engine faltered and died, so they all ended up having to push it into town, with the darkness pressing against them. After struggling for over fifteen minutes and sweating profusely from the weight, they gave up and decided to just fix it up with a bit of magic.
Jacob absolutely loved his car, and Violet was the only one in the family who thought it was hideous. Therefore, he made sure to pick her up from parties in it, which her angered to no end.
Lost in her thoughts, Coralie jumped when she heard Jacobs loud voice; "You guys ready?" he asked, grabbing his black sunglasses from the glove box.
"Yes. Let's go,” Violet snapped from the back seat, sounding quite bored and irritated, “drop them and leave them. The less time I have to spend with you the better."
Coralie rolled her eyes and gave Marcelle a hug goodbye before sliding into the front passenger seat.
"Have fun, and don't forget to write. Angus, try not to get into too much trouble,” Marcelle teased, but a hint of seriousness was in her voice. “And Coralie? Keep an eye on him,” she added, leaning on the open car window, smiling proudly and ruffling her daughter's curly hair.
Coralie nodded as her mother turned back to Angus and hugged him tightly.
“Oh my, I'm going to miss you two," Marcelle gushed, before helping Angus into the car and closed the door behind him, smiling sadly.
"Let's go then, guys. You excited?" Jacob asked as he reserved out of the garage.
“Ecstatic, actually," Coralie replied with a grin as she watched her mum wave frantically as the car sped off.
"I don't see it anywhere..." Jacob muttered, a frown creeping onto his forehead.
"You've gotta be kidding me. I'm sick of being stuck with you lot," Violet sniffed, pointedly walking three steps away from her siblings and toying with her light blue cardigan.
"I'm sure it's here," Coralie assured her fairly, looking around for any sign of a platform 9 ¾..
"This is actually loads of fun!"
Three sets of eyes turned to face Angus, all sporting looks of disbelief and irritation towards the thirteen year old.
"Let's just ask someone already," Violet muttered darkly, strutting off towards a large, middle-aged man in a conductor's uniform. Her three siblings watched in amusement as she started talking and twisting a lock of hair around her finger.
"How long till she realises he's a muggle?" Jacob mused lightly, not tearing his eyes away from the scene.
"10 galleons says fifteen minutes," Angus bargained nonchalantly.
Coralie snorted.
“You're on,” Jacob smirked.
Authors Note; Well there you guys go, the very first chapter of tied together with a smile. I've been planning to write this story for over a year now but things came up and other stories captured my attention but that doesn't matter anymore now does it? I thought I post this chapter and see what you guys think before I get to far ahead in the series and then decide to abandon it. It might be a little while before chapter two is up as I have a few things to finish off, change around and of course other stories to get up but hopefully it'll only take a few short weeks.
There is a sort of prequel/spin off story with a different main character that is in the process of being written, to be honest it doesn't really matter whether you read it or not. The main character may be mentioned later on and possibly events within that story as well but if you choose not to read it, it honestly doesn't matter. I shall post it in a month or two and I will make sure to make a little note about that. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I know it's sort of boring and doesn't really make much sense but chapter two is much more eventful. Thanks for reading and please review.
Disclaimer; Coralie and Angus De Luca/Bennett, Kiki Soho, Miranda Perry and the plot are owned by yours truly. The story title is owned by Taylor Swift and the lyrics included by Beyonce Knowles. Anything else is owned by J.K Rowling. I do not claim them. Amazing chapter image by !lifeisasong @ TDA, She's a doll ain't she?
I'm not sure of what to do,
It's a catch twenty-two?
It's a catch twenty-two?
Cause the cure is found in you
Platform 9 3/4 was packed to capacity with students trying to find their friends, parents running after their children with forgotten items and crying youngsters who did not want their elder siblings to leave. The four Bennett's stood nervously in the middle of it all, all looking quite lost and bewildered as they surveyed the scene of chaotic madness before them.
Coralie was gripping her trunk tightly, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She glanced at Violet, who was holding onto Coralie's cat, Shadow, for dear life, and both human and cat were looking positively frightened.
Diverting her gaze to Angus, who stood beside her with a look of pure joy on his face, Coralie realised she would never understand the twisted way his mind worked.
She then looked past Angus to see Jacob, who was looking the least nervous of them all. In fact, he was eyeing of a beautiful red-headed girl, who had noticed his gaze and was now blushing furiously. Jacob seemed to have that effect on girls.
"Well, I guess we should go," Coralie muttered softly, turning to face Violet.
"Meet some cute boys for me," Violet teased with one of her winning smiles as she stepped forward to hug her sister. Coralie sent a nervous smile back and hugged Violet awkwardly. The two of them hardly ever showed affection towards each other and were quite unsure as to how to look natural. "If anyone gives you trouble, sis, just owl me and I'll set them straight," she whispered softly, so that no one besides Coralie could hear. They both pulled back and smiled. Maybe things could change between them in the future.
"Well, Angus, mate, find out that cute red-heads name for me," Jacob said, breaking the silence as he patted Angus on the back.
"Will do, mate," Angus said with a glint in his eyes.
"You two are disgusting," Violet said in a bored tone, as she gave Angus a quick hug and a pat on the head. For once, Coralie had to agree with her. Even though she was used to her brothers' antics, she still thought that sometimes they could be incredibly tactless, especially when it came to girls. Coralie turned to Jacob and stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around him.
"I'll miss you, bro. Tell the guys I said 'goodbye'," she asked of him sadly.
Jacob nodded and kissed the top her head. Unwrapping her arms from his waist, he smiled brightly. "I'll miss you, too, sis,” he said. “Now you two better hurry up before your train leaves or Mum will have my head."
Coralie and Angus nodded, grabbing their things. They gave a small wave and jumped onto the Hogwarts Express, where it seemed even more crowded than the platform. “Remember! The red head!" Jacob called after Angus.
"Excuse me, do you mind?” Coralie asked as she slid open the door to the only relatively empty compartment. “Everywhere else is quite full...”
She glanced around the compartment, noting it's occupants. Inside were four boys; the first one was rather tall with messy dark brown hair and amazing hazel eyes that were covered by circular glasses. He was one of those very few people that actually looked good in glasses. In fact, they looked like they were made for him. He had a wide smile on his face and was talking animatedly to the boy who sat across from him.
This boy...well there was only really one word to describe him, and that was gorgeous. Every single part of him was breath taking. He seemed to be around the same height as the first one, but he had long jet black hair and grey eyes that glistened with excitement.
The third boy had his nose buried in a book, but from what Coralie could see, he had short, shaggy sandy-blonde hair, amber eyes and a large scar down the side of his face. Although he wasn't as attractive as the first two, there was something about him that made you want to know more.
Looking incredibly out of place with the other three intriguing ones sitting with him, sat the fourth occupant. He was short, stumpy with short, dirty blonde hair and small blue eyes under a large, sweating forehead. To put it frankly, he reminded Coralie of a disgusting garden rat.
The first boy nodded. "Can't say no to a beautiful girl like you," he said, flashing her an incredibly dazzling smile. Coralie hated to admit it, but she could feel her cheeks heating up. Her knees felt weak and her heart was fluttering, and she quickly took a seat next to the third boy before her legs gave out on her.
"How come I've never seen you around, sexy? You're not a Slytherin, are you?" the boy with the grey eyes asked.
Coralie blinked several times. She had just been called 'beautiful' and 'sexy' in less than a minute, by two different guys, no less! This was the sort of thing that happened to flirty girls, like Violet, not shy girls like her.
"Padfoot! She has a name," the third boy scolded, sighing as he closed his book and smiled at her. "Excuse my friends. They are psychically challenged, you see?" he informed her, a smirking playing on his lips.
"Us? Physically challenged? Pfft, what does that make you, Moony?" the first boy shot back, cocking an eyebrow.
"Uh...No.. No, I'm not, I'm new," Coralie explained, slightly puzzled. Who on earth would name their child 'Padfoot' and 'Moony'? And Coralie thought her name was unusual.
"That explains it then,” the grey eyed boy declared loudly. “Well, I'm Sirius Black, the famous ladies man of Hogwarts." He offered her his hand, which she took timidly. She noticed that his hands were extremely warm - they reminded her of her father. "Can I have my hand back now?" he asked, shooting her a smirk.
Coralie blushed a deep shade of scarlet before dropping his hand and hiding behind her curly hair.
"James Potter,” the first boy introduced proudly, “Griffindor Quidditch Captain and Lily Evans' future husband.” His eyes had a dreamy and determined glint as he informed her of the last statement.
"I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pettigrew," the third boy said with a smile, throwing his head in the direction of Peter. Coralie guessed he was nicest of the four boys; he just had this aura about him.
Peter, the rat-like boy, gave a little nod before he turned back to James and Sirius, talking quickly and breathlessly.
Faced with an awkward silence, Coralie pulled out her favourite muggle book, Emma by Jane Austen, and flipped open to the place her bookmark was sticking out of. She hadn't had time to read two sentences before she was interrupted by the compartment door slamming open. She jumped a little and closed her book to see a tall, tanned, black-haired girl standing on the threshold.
The girl was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans that highlighted her thin legs, a simple, low cut, deep green tank top and a loose fitting black jacket. Coralie looked down at her own outfit which considered of her favourite jeans, her pastel green sweater and her cream trench coat. She suddenly felt very average. Lost in her thoughts, she got a small surprise when the girl took the seat next and slid her arm around Coralie's small shoulders.
"You poor girl, did they kidnap you or bribe you with sex and money in order for you to stay in here with them?" she asked with a hint of sympathetic sarcasm in her voice.
Coralie's first impression was that this girl was just like Violet; beautiful, but a total bitch.
"Believe it or not, Soho, she came her on her own free will," Sirius informed her, almost proudly.
"Wait, you actually like the Marauders?" the girl scoffed, turning to Coralie and rolling her eyes in disbelief.
"Who?" Coralie asked, confused.
"Ahh, I like this girl. What's your name?" the girl asked with a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Coralie Bennett. I'm new."
"Hello Coralie, I'm Kiki Soho. Welcome to Hogwarts," the girl, Kiki, said warmly.
Coralie usually had a pretty good idea on the type of person someone was by just looking at them, however, at the moment, she was incredibly confused. She just couldn't place Kiki at all.
"Hogwarts' Whore," Sirius mumbled under his breath.
"And that there, is Sirius Black, Man Whore of the school and his friends,” Kiki shot back fiercely. “They call themselves 'The Marauders',” she added in a dramatic baby voice.
"Isn't that a bit...five year old-ish?" Coralie asked, raising her eyebrows slightly and tipping her head to the side. Her brother and his friends had had a name like that once, but that was when they were six years old.
"Hey, it's a cool name," Sirius said defensively, looking very offended.
"You know, Coralie, I think you'll fit right in with my friends," Kiki told her, standing up and pulling Coralie out of the compartment. “Come on.”
"Guys, this is Coralie Bennett. She's new to Hogwarts and just insulted the Marauders, themselves," Kiki declared proudly as she and Coralie went into the latter's compartment. The five girls sitting in there all turned to face Coralie and Kiki, looking amused. Coralie recognised the one sitting next to the window as the red-head who her brother was checking out on the platform. She smiled warmly and stood up, offering her hand.
"I'm Lily Evans. It's nice to meet you, Coralie. This is Miranda Perry-" Lily said pointing to a small girl who was sitting opposite Lily's newly vacated seat. She had long, curly brown hair, lightly tanned skin and big 'bambi' like brown eyes.
"-This is Mary McDonald-"
A tall girl with long wavy golden hair and dashing blue eyes waved.
"-Marlene McKinnon-"
The girl closest by the door, who had long jet black hair and murky blue eyes, gave a small nod and shot Coralie a warm smile.
"-Ali-"
"-I can introduce myself, Lils," the last girl said with a cheeky tone. "I'm Alice Prewett," he said with a smile that almost mimicked Violets. Alice reminded Coralie a bit of her cousin, Rhiannon, who, like Alice, had short, dark brown hair and dark blue eyes..
"You're that James Potter's future wife then," Coralie remarked, looking at Lily, who suddenly turned a furious shade of crimson and looked slightly murderous as she took her seat back next to the window.
Coralie sheepishly took a seat next to the door, opposite Kiki, and made a mental note to not mention James Potter again if she could help it.
Authors Note; Wow, I didn't think I'd actually get this chapter out as quick as I did but yeah here it is. Chapter Sadly Chapter Four won't be up for a few weeks as I really need to catch up with school work and all, hopefully though I'll be able to get it up by the end of the month if not then the start of next month. I personally think this chapter is a bit more interesting than the first chapter and just a tad longer. I'm hoping to generally keep my chapters in the 1,500 to 2,000 words, with the exception of a couple, that way it's not too short or too long. Maybe towards the end the chapters will get longer but I'm happy to announce this is my longest chapter EVER on hpff. I know, compared to some it's pretty short but still. If you want to ask me any questions relating to this series or any of my others please check out my brand new AUTHOR'S PAGE! over at the forums.
For those of you who are members, I am ElysiumJayne over there so feel free to check out my page and such. What do you guys think of Coralie so far? How about her friends Miranda, Kiki, Alice, Marlene, Mary and Lily so far? I know there hasn’t really been much about them yet but the next chapter you guys really getting to see what they’re like. I'd like to thank absolutely every single one of you who has taken the time to read this story already, THANK YOU! A little mention goes out to Valkyriee who was the first person to review this story, thank you so much! Please review guys.
Disclaimer;All the OC's and the plot are owned by yours truly. The story title is owned by Taylor Swift and anything else is owned by J.K Rowling. I do not claim them.
Amazing chapter image made by !lifeisasong @ TDA.
The rest of the train ride passed without anything entirely interesting taking place. The train ran past the most beautiful countryside, by the time lunch came around, she didn't even know whether she was still in England or not. But she didn't mind – the scenery was mesmerising and she barely noticed when Kiki was trying to entice her with a chocolate brownie.
“Coralie? Are you still with us?” Lily laughed as Kiki grew tired of waving the brownie under Coralie's nose and promptly ate it herself.
Coralie blinked and came back to reality. “Oops,” she giggled, “off in my own little world again.”
“Isn't she just adorable?” Kiki teased, before launching into a conversation about the boys in their year, although she assured them all that it was just for Coralie's benefit so that she wouldn't make any “terrible decisions”, as Kiki had put it.
It turned out that boys were Kiki's speciality, and knew almost every one from their year and above. Lily, however, was far more studious, and began, after Kiki had stopped for breath, to tell Coralie about Potions which was her favourite class. Talk soon moved onto Quidditch, which Mary was obsessed with, and then the “school houses”, which Coralie learned to be Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The girls she was sitting with were all in the house of Gryffindor.
Houses lead on to talk of blood, and Coralie found out that Lily was Muggle born, Miranda and Mary were half-bloods, and Alice and Kiki were pure-bloods, like herself.
Coralie didn't quite know how it happened, but the next minute, they were talking about their favourite colours; Lily loved purple and emerald green (which was the exact colour of her wide eyes), Kiki favoured black and lime green, Miranda and Marlene loved every shade of blue, while Mary liked blood red, and Alice was obsessed with pink.
Finally, the brakes started screeching and all too soon, the train had stopped at Hogsmeade Station. Amidst the chaos of hundreds of students trying to get off the train, Coralie managed to lose her new friends and missed the last carriage. Realising that there was nothing to do but walk, she groaned and, muttering darkly, started making her way to the path. Just when she thought it couldn't get much worse, it started raining. “Typical U.K. weather,” she grumbled, kicking a pebble along the road in frustration and wishing desperately to be back in France. At least there, it wasn't sunny one minute, bucketing down the next.
At long last, she reached the entrance of the imposing castle and, with relief, opened the doors, grateful that they had not been locked. She flicked her wand to dry her new black cloak, and tied her now even frizzier hair into a loose ponytail to keep it from dripping down her back.
She started walking down the hall, before realising that she hadn't a clue as to where to go. Trying to keep tears from coming to her eyes, she leant against a wall and sunk down to the floor, exhaling in irritation.
“Just my luck,” she muttered quietly, closing her eyes momentarily.
Upon opening them, she noticed a tall, attractive boy, who she guessed was probably around her age, possibly older, looking down at her with a puzzled look. He casually ran his fingers through his long blondish-brown hair and his dark hazel eyes looked concerned.
“Are you okay?” he asked, offering his hand to Coralie.
“Yes, I'm fine,” she mumbled, giving an appreciative smile as he pulled her up. “Would you be able to get me to the...wherever everyone goes?” she asked hopefully. “I've sort of lost my friends, and I'm new...”
The boy chuckled as they started walking down the hall. “I'm Cory Noble, by the way,” he said, offering Coralie his hand again, who shook it with a grin.
“Ironically enough, I'm Coralie Bennet,” she said, smiling.
“You said you had made some friends?” Cory prompted as they continued down the hall, covering the silence.
Coralie nodded, hoping she remembered their names properly. “Yes, Lily...Evans, I think, and Kiki Soho, Miranda-”
“-Mary and Marlene?” Corey finished with a grin, “I know them, they're nice girls. Shelena Millen not hanging out with them any more?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Umm...apparently not,” Coralie answered uncertainly. None of the girls she had sat with had mentioned a Shelena.
“She and Lily were best friends,” Cory explained as they turned into another corridor, “but something happened last term. But no one knows what, just that the two once closest of friends started ignoring each other.”
“Oh...” Coralie said, unsure of what to make of that information.
“Shelena was dating Sirius Black,” Cory continued, covering the silence, “and then apparently slept with his best friend, James Potter. Ever heard of them?”
Coralie nodded. So Sirius Black, the guy with the grey eyes, was dating this Shelena girl, she thought, trying to get her head around it, then James Potter had slept with her? And Coralie thought she was leaving the scandal behind when she left St. Mary's Prep School.
“Yeah, I've met them. Insulted them, too,” she grinned. “Why do they call themselves the Marauders? Is that a crime-fighting group or something?”
Cory laughed. “No wonder Lily likes you. She hates James Potter with a passion. It's quite pathetic since he's so in love with her. And I really don't have a clue as to where their name comes from,” he added
Coralie chuckled softly. "How do you know all this, anyway?" she asked, amused.
"I share a dorm with the 'Marauders'. Trust me, I know everything there is to know about Hogwarts from those four," Cory said, rolling his eyes as if it was no big deal.
"You like to gossip, then?" Coralie asked with a raised eyebrow and a giggle.
"Oh yes, whenever I can," Cory said seriously, fluttering his eyelashes before both of them collapsed in fits of laughter.
Finally, Coralie and Cory made it to the Great Hall, which was abuzz with students chatting noisily at the four long tables. Coralie felt a little bit overwhelmed, but brushed the feeling aside.
"Well here we are,” Cory said over the noise, “you have to line up behind those miniature kids and your name should be called pretty soon. Hope to see you at the Gryffindor table. Until then, Milady," Cory said, bowing dramatically as he took Coralie's hand and kissed it. She laughed, but quickly stifled it and walked towards the group of small kids with a grin in her face and stood next to her brother, who was staring at her with a puzzled look.
"You already got a boyfriend, Cors?" he scoffed, raising an eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, while taking her hair out of a ponytail, and letting it fall around her shoulders. Sometimes boys could be so immature, she thought. Suddenly the room became quiet as a man with long white hair and a long white beard, both of equal length, and half-moon spectacles stood up. Coralie figured he was Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster.
"Before we begin our sorting of first years,” Dumbledore began as silence fell over the students, “we have two new pupils that need to be sorted first. Coralie and Angus Bennett are joining as from St. Mary's Prep School and will be joining sixth and third year respectively. Miss Coralie Bennett will be sorted first, if you please."
Angus sent Coralie a smile as she stumbled onto the stage a took a seat on a small wooden stool. An old, battered hat was placed on her head by Professor Dumbledore.
"Well here's something new.”
Coralie jumped as she heard the voice in her head, shooting a worried glance at Angus as the voice chuckled..
“It's just me, the hat, pet,” she heard the voice say. She calmed somewhat, but her heart was still racing. “Now,” the hat continued, “where to put you. Hmm...Too much of a trouble-maker for Hufflepuff, a will to learn but a heart that prefers to have fun, well then Ravenclaw's definitely out. It seems to be between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Ahh yes. I've got it...”
“GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared out loud, and deafening eruption came from the table which Coralie guessed was Gryffindor as she took the hat off and gave it back to Professor Dumbledore. She gave a nervous smile before walking towards the table, taking a seat in between Cory and Lily. Seconds later, Angus slipped into the seat across from her with a wide, smug smile on his face.
"Welcome to Gryffindor, Coralie” Cory said warmly, giving her a dazzling smile, before introducing himself to her brother.
Coralie blushed, and watched the rest of the sorting eagerly, occasionally stealing a glance of Cory from behind her hair.
Authors Note; Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I know I'm a horrible author but I've been really busy with school and such lately, I have like three assignments due tomorrow as well as a math test. Basically, I'm screwed. I've had this chapter written for a few days and originally this was chapter four and you found out more about the girls and all but because all my friends are on school camp while I am brainwashed in the Junior School, I had absolutely no inspiration. I had planned on having up to chapter five posted by the time they got back but at the moment I'm more focused on not getting expelled from school.
Chapter Four should be up as soon as my friends get home considering I need to talk to them all in order to get my inspiration back. (Nine days is a long time with your best friends). Anyway, Moving on, I felt it was necessary to post this chapter after I found four people had favourited this story, which I know to some of you probably sounds really lame but it's the most amount of people I've ever had favourite a story of mine, So thank you to biggestHPfaneva, ema_nikadee, johnnydeppno1 & Valkyriee.
P.S; How do you guys like Cory? He was inspired by Taylor Swift's song 'Stay Beautiful'. It's such a sweet song I just had to put him in.
Disclaimer; The OC's in this story and the plot are owned by yours truly. The story title is owned by Taylor Swift, and the extract from Jane Austen's, Emma. The rest it owned by J.K Rowling, I do not claim to own it.
Resting her head on the Gryffindor table, Coralie sighed and held her stomach. Perhaps the fourth slice of chocolate cake wasn't such a good idea. But, she had to admit, that it was one of the nicest things she had ever eaten. The Hogwarts food was amazing, to say the least. The presentation of the many extravagant deserts was a work of art – the ice-cream was stacked in a tower, and it never melted; the toffee apples were served on a platter of mint; and the vast array of cakes and tarts had so many different colours of icing, it was like a sweet shop! She looked at a small cupcake, contemplating whether to have just one little nibble, when the food vanished suddenly. A little voice at the back of her head told her that that was a good thing.
If this was what dinner was like every night at Hogwarts, Coralie had a feeling she'd be either diabetic or look like her Uncle Alex by the Christmas holidays. Either way, she wouldn't want to go home to her mother's cooking, which was ordinary at best. She recalled that the last time her mother had attempted to cook a roast, the house had nearly caught fire, although her mother insisted that the oven was faulty and that was the cause of smoke billowing from the kitchen. Thankfully, Angus had noticed the burning smell before any serious damage could be done.
Coralie turned to face Mary, who was also resting her head on the table and groaning in pain as she hugged her stomach tightly. Coralie couldn't help but laugh softly at her new friends’ appearance; when she had meet Mary on the train she seemed like a pretty innocent little girl. But now, with her wavy golden hair all tousled and her mouth covered in chocolate sauce, Coralie could tell she was much more.
"So, Miss Bennett, you think you make it to the common room with Miss McDonald here without vomiting?" Cory asked, breaking the content silence. Coralie looked up, and realised that only Mary and Cory were the only ones left that she knew. All of the other girls had left the Great Hall earlier with mixed reasons; Lily had prefect duties, Miranda had to take her little sister to the Hospital Wing, Marlene had headed off to the library, Alice had gone off to find her boyfriend and Kiki had declared loudly that she needed to find some guy to snog.
Coralie and Mary cracked a small smile before attempting to stand up.
"Maybe not," Mary said, falling to a heap on the floor. Coralie let out a small giggle before pulling her back onto her feet and dangling her arm over Mary's shoulder.
"We'll make it, thank you very much, Mr. Noble," she said to Cory, a hint of mock offence in her voice before both girls attempted to storm out of the Great Hall, only to find themselves collapsed in a heap halfway down the table.
As they stumbled past the Marauders, Coralie heard Sirius say loudly; "look, Prongs, we already have girls falling over us and the school year has hardly begun!" Coralie ignored the bark of laughter that had escaped Sirius as the other Marauders watched the two girls slowly make their way out of the hall.
"Finally, you guys are back. What took you so long?" Lily asked as Coralie and Mary finally trudged through the dormitory door. Mary promptly collapsed onto the nearest bed, and curled up into a ball, and Coralie stayed awkwardly by the door..
"It was probably the fifth slice of cake they had, Lily!" Marlene laughed from the bathroom.
"Hey, that's no fair. We only had four pieces of cake," Mary retorted, her voice muffled slightly. She let out a loud sigh and flicked through Kiki's copy of Witch Weekly.
Kiki looked up from her trunk and shot Mary a look of mock disgust. “That's my bed and my magazine,” she informed Mary brightly, sticking out her tongue, before disappearing into the bathroom as Marlene came out.
Groaning, Mary slowly made her way to her own bed, and collapsed yet again. “I'm never moving or eating anything. Ever. Again,” she declared.
Coralie smiled and looked around the dormitory nervously; the room was decorated by red and gold and had seven four-poster beds. Coralie could tell which bed belonged to who; Kiki's was the closest to the door and was already covered in clothes and make-up (which Mary has messed up from lying on it before).
Marlene's bed was beside hers, looking remarkably cleaner with a soft, light brown teddy bear lying on the golden pillow.
Lily's was next; it was covered in books and parchment as well as a pile of letters she had already received from James Potter.
The next bed was bare, with just the custom red and gold manchester. However, Coralie guessed that this one was to be hers, as her trunk was rested on the floor before it.
She looked to the next bed, which she concluded was Miranda's. It was perfect and clean with a picture of what Coralie guessed to be her family on the bed side table.
Mary's was the next bed; it was obvious straight away. Especially since she had a red, quaffle shaped pillow.
The last bed left was Alice's; there was an photo album sitting on the edge of the bed but other than that it was practically bare. Coralie walked over to her brand new bed and sat on top of it, staring into the distance. She remembered what Cory had told her while they were walking in the corridors together. What had happened to that other girl, the one who was Lily's best friend...Shelena? She briefly thought about asking Lily, but quickly shook her head at the thought. She was sure someone would tell her soon if it was something she needed to know.
"Coralie, are you alright?" Alice asked, sitting down next to her while brushing her hair.
Coralie jumped a little. "Yeah, I just miss my best friend and I'm a bit nervous about classes tomorrow..." she trailed off. It wasn't a complete lie; Coralie missed all of her friends, Julianne, Sarah and most of all Emma, and she was nervous about classes tomorrow. However, that wasn't what was bothering her.
Alice didn't seem to buy it either. "You can tell me, you know? If you don't want anyone else to know I won't tell them, it'll just be between us," Alice whispered, looking around to make sure that no one else could hear her.
"There is something I was going to ask you..." Alice nodded, motioning Coralie to continue. "Something Cory told me about this girl, Shelena Millen? What happened to her?"
Alice sighed, and looked around the room once more before talking. "To be honest, we’re not sure,” she told Coralie fairly. “She left last year and never came back. Just don't mention it around Lily, she's still sensitive about it," she added quietly, concern showing in her eyes.
"I won't, I promise. I was just wondering," Coralie explained, blushing.
Alice smiled brightly at her, looking somewhat relieved. “Goodnight, everyone!” the former called as she made her way over to her four poster bed, quickly sliding under the duvet and pulling her red hangings closed around her.
"Night, Alice," the rest of the girls chorused and made their ways to their own beds before blowing out all of the candles in the room.
Coralie pulled her curtains closed, quickly changed into her pyjamas and wrapped herself in her bed covers, not feeling the least bit tired. She pursed her lips, growing bored, and trying not to think. She sat up and listened to the sounds of her new friends as they drifted off to sleep, wishing she could so the same. However, she was far too nervous about tomorrow to even think about sleeping right now. She grabbed one of her books and slipped quietly down into the common room, taking a seat on the floor close to the fire. She flipped the book open to the page her bookmark was placed at and began reading.
"I will say no more about him," cried Emma, "you turn every thing to evil. We are both prejudiced; you against, I for him; and we have no chance of agreeing till he is really here.
Authors Note; Well here you guys go, Chapter Four already. This would of been up earlier but it was my last week of school and some stuff happened with my best friend so yeah but I decided to quickly finish the chapter off considering it's the first day of school holidays and I'm in such a great mood. I'm adding some chapter images for the first three chapters so you guys should really check 'em out. Moving on, a big thank you goes to honeybunny77 who reviewed the previous chapter. Hope you enjoyed and look out for Chapter Five coming within the next week (hopefully)
Disclaimer; As always, Coralie and Angus Bennett, Kiki Soho, Miranda Perry, Cory Noble, Shelena Millen and the plot are owned by yours truly. The title is owned by Taylor Swift, the song lyrics by All time low and anything else by J.K Rowling.
Strange maze, what is this place?
I hear voices over my shoulders.
Nothing's making sense at all.
Wonder, why do we race?
This chapter is dedicated to two very special people,
Firstly to Anna; Happy Birthday beautiful :)
And secondly to Dani; My thoughts are always on you, Please get better darling.
who likes my chapter image? i LOVE it! it was made by the amazing !lifeisasong @ TDA.
“Good morning Miss Bennett. It's good to see you finally decided to grace us with your presence," the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, said as a wild haired Coralie finally burst into the classroom, already half an hour late. A few people sniggered before diverting their eyes back to the forbidding Professor, who was handing out the necessities for today's lesson.
Coralie glanced around the room for a spare seat and found one at the very front row next to Cory. Sliding in next to him, he sent her a weak smile before pulling out his wand and starting on the set task.
"Why were you late, Miss Bennett?" McGonagall asked, not unkindly, before handing her what looked to be a common silver spoon.
"I slept in and then I didn't know where to go,” Coralie explained feebly, blushing to the roots of her blonde hair, “but one of the third years pointed me in the right direction."
McGonagall gave a stiff nod and continued to walk around the classroom, handing out more cutlery to her students. Coralie let out a sigh of relief and grabbed out her Transfiguration book, flipping it to the page she needed. The spell that today's class was focusing on was pretty simple, something Coralie could master in no time. She lightly tapped her wand on the metal spoon and muttered the spell. Within seconds, the spoon had disappeared and now a small yellow canary stood, chirping happily in it's place.
Coralie smiled to herself; sure she'd turned up late but she had successfully finished the spell before anyone else. She quickly raised her hand and McGonagall slowly made her way over. "Well done Miss Bennett,” McGonagall praised, impressed. “Change it back and repeat it until everyone's finished."
Coralie nodded to show she understood, and returned the canary to it's original form, before repeating the spell. Standing on the desk in place of the spoon once more, was a perfect canary. Three transfigurations later, there was suddenly a high-pitched squeal and everyone turned to face the culprit, half expecting to see a girl. Coralie was shocked when Peter Pettigrew's round face blushed a bright red colour. Sitting on the chair next to him (where Lupin should of been) was a canary, much like ones that were meant to be the result of the spell they were learning.
"What on Earth has happened here?" Professor McGonaagall demanded curtly. A few people shrugged, while Black and Potter burst into fits of loud, uncontrollable laughter, which earned them an irritated glare from the Professor..
"Nice one Wormtail," Black sniggered, clamping Peter on the back.
"Is that...Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked weakly.
A few people nodded warily, and McGonagall's face reflected one of shock. "Miss Bennett, if you would be s kind, would you please take Mr. Lupin to the Hospital Wing and explain what happened? Both of you will be excused from classes until Madam Pompfrey is sure he's back to normal."
Coralie nodded, stashing both her and Remus' books into their respective school bags, before she quickly exited the classroom. Remus flew, purposefully depositing a smelly present on Peter's sandy head, before catching up to her. As the two of them made the way through the corridors, Coralie found she was struggling not to burst into fits of giggles for the sake of Remus's pride. It was proving to be harder than she thought, especially when he accidentally flew into a suit of armour.
When the doors of the hospital wing finally came into view, Coralie breathed a sigh of relief, and she was pretty sure Remus did too. Madam Pompfrey sat behind her desk, scribbling something down on what looked to be a students file.
"Uh..hello,” Coralie said timidly, “we were in Transfiguration and Remus here unfortunately got hit with a spell... McGonagall said to come here?"
Madam Pompfrey, the kindly matron, glanced up from her desk. Her green eyes widened at the sight of the bird sitting on the counter, then her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Pursing her lips, she placed her quill and parchment down, before opening and closing her mouth a few times. Coralie fought back the overwhelming urge to laugh...sure, this situation was odd but Madam Pomphrey looked like a fish.
"This way, Mr. Lupin," she managed to say, standing up and walking over to one of the beds. "I swear, if I had a galleon for every time a spell has gone wrong at this school, I'd be a millionaire."
“Coralie?”
Coralie looked up from the out of date copy of Witch Weekly she was reading in the Hospital Wing waiting room to see Remus, shuffling out of the Wing in his normal human form. She suppressed a giggle. “Hi,” she said, keeping a straight face.
"Hey, thanks for taking me to the Hospital Wing," he said, giving Coralie an embarrassed smile as he sat down next to her.
Coralie smirked slightly. "Hospital Wing...” she mused out loud, “that name couldn't be more fitting for your case."
Remus snorted, before laughing along with Coralie. "What class do you have now?" he asked, rumaging through his bag.
"Potions, I think,” Coralie said, recalling her timetable. “You?"
"Same," Remus replied after a few seconds and pulling his own slightly crumpled timetable from his bag. "Dungeons are this way then," he said cheerily, pointing down the corridor to the left. He smiled and the two of them walked in an awkward silence until they reached the rest of their classmates, who were milling around outside, what Coralie assumed was, the door to the Potions classroom. Coralie immediately saw Mary, who was absent-mindedly flipping through her Potions book and stood next to her, while Remus continued without a backward glance to stand with the rest of The Marauders.
"How'd it go?" Mary asked, looking up from her book, a small smirk playing on her lips.
"All good," Coralie replied happily. Both girls smiled and followed the potions professor, Professor Slughorn, into the classroom. Coralie sat in between Mary and Lily, who were apparently both extremely good at Potions, She suddenly felt sick - not only did she struggle with Potions, she was now stuck between to people who were expectantly brilliant at it.
Perhaps it wasn't too late to pull out...?
Authors Note; I'm sorry this is late again but I've been planning to write this chapter for ages but nothing seemed right. I know it's an incredibly horrible chapter but my creativity levels have sinked remarkably, I'm just not myself at the moment to be honest. I know it's super short too which sucks but I promise I will make up for absolutely everything that this chapter lacks in Chapter Six which I absolutely promise will not take this long to get out. Enough with that thought, Thank you all so much for reading and to all six of you who have favourited already, you are amazing people, really you are. Please leave a review!
Disclaimer; The OC's and the plot are all mine. The song title is Taylor Swift's and anything else is J.K Rowling's. Have you guys checked out the awesome chapter images for the past chapters? Well you should, They're amazing and made by !lifeisasong @TDA. Thank you for reading and please review.
Amazing chapter image, as always made by !lifeisasong over at TDA. How beautiful is it?
Oh, shut up, Noble," Coralie said, sticking her tongue out at Cory. She rolled her eyes as he laughed, and turned to face Kiki, hoping for some back-up. To Coralie's dismay, her friend was too busy snogging her latest fling to help.
She turned back to face Cory and stuck her finger in her mouth, pretending to gag. He chuckled and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. "It wasn't that bad was it?" Coralie asked nervously, twisting a piece of her hair around her fingers.
"Oh, no, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure Lily and Mary will get the violent shade of blue out of their hair eventually," he answered lightly.
Coralie sent him a murderous stare and stood up, taking one last sip of her pumpkin juice before storming out of the Great Hall.
"Coralie, oh come on. I was joking," Cory yelled, debating whether or not to get up and chase after her but decided against it. Perhaps all she needed was some time alone, he thought, finishing off his coffee.
With a dismissive wave, Kiki detached herself from the guy she was snogging and stared at Cory. "What did you do?" she demanded, raising her eyebrows.
Cory just shrugged his shoulders, busying himself with dishing up some stew to avoid Kiki's questioning glare.
Coralie stomped into the owlery and grabbed some parchment and a quill from her bag, slowly calming down. She felt bad for storming off, but ignored the knot in her stomach. She had more pressing matters on her mind.
Quickly, she scribbled down a note to Jacob and tied the letter to one of the school's scrawny brown owls, and set it off into the afternoon sky. She sighed and slid down the wall, mulling over what had happened at breakfast, when that letter had arrived.
It had looked like any other, like the letters she received from home. The black owl should have tipped her off, as no one she knew own such a pet, but she barely registered the colour, happy to get news from home. But now, she wished she hadn't seen what was written. It certainly wasn't from her family.
She sighed, feeling her pocket to make sure it wasn't all a mistake. But no, the letter was still there, feeling as though it was weighing her down. She pulled the parchment out, and re-read it. The second time just made the worry and anxiety worse.
With a shaky breath and tears pricking her eyes, Coralie stood up, deciding to head back to the Common Room. She shoved the letter into her Charms book, hoping desperately that Jacob would reply soon.
"Oh, Coralie, what's wrong?" Alice asked softly as Coralie slid into the Common Room. Five pairs of curious eyes quickly diverted to her as she made her way to the lounges, much to her embarrassment.
Unable to think of an answer, Coralie smiled weakly when Miranda gave her a sympathetic look and hugged her tightly.
"Are you okay?" Miranda whispered so low that only Coralie could hear.
A quiet squeak was all that Coralie managed as she nodded uncertainly into Miranda's dark hair, although her friends' concern made her feel a bit safer. Miranda truly did seem like the kind of person who would do absolutely anything for her friends, and would stand up and fight for what she believed in.
"I'm fine,” Coralie said shakily, trying to fight the tears threatening to fall again. “I'm just going to have a shower, get an early night..." All six girls nodded and followed Coralie up the stairs and into their dormitory, most of them chatting quietly amongst themselves.
Coralia placed her school books absent-mindedly on her bed and rummaged in her trunk for her dressing gown. Too late, she noticed the letter had fallen from the book and onto the bed, and tried to grab it before anyone saw. Her efforts, however, were not good enough.
"Hey, what's this Coralie?” Marlene taunted, snatching the letter and crawling onto Lily's bed. “Is it a love letter? Aw, I knew that guy in Potions had a crush on you," she finished, grinning. The other girls quickly crowded around her and stared at the letter, giggling.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Kiki laughed, looking over Marlene's shoulder, looking far too happy.
Coralie could feel her cheeks turning red with anger. She muttered a small “It's nothing,” and grabbed her dressing gown and pyjamas out of her trunk, throwing them into the bathroom.
"You know, girls, whenever someone says 'it's nothing', it just proves that it's definitely something and, generally, it's something pretty big, too,” Kiki mused out loud, sounding genuinely happy for her friend. “So come on, tell us, Cora. Who is it?" she demanded with a mock authoritative voice.
The girls all burst into fresh fits of giggles, despite Coralie pointedly walking to the bathroom. She held her breath, hoping by the time she got out of the shower they would have given up on it and forget about it.
"Come on Coralie. You can tell us; we won't judge," Kiki said kindly. The six of them nodded and muttered words of agreement.
"Oh, my God, it's Cory, isn't it? I told you so, Lily-"Marlene started, snatching the letter from Kiki before the latter had even read it.
"Just drop it, alright?" Coralie said desperately, her eyes flashing dangerously as she ripped the letter out of Marlene's hands and shread it into pieces. She stormed into the bathroom, letting the tears fall freely now that she had some privacy.
The next morning, Coralie looked up expectantly as the many owls flew into the dining hall. She immediately saw the owl she had used yesterday flying directly at her, and felt as if a little of the weight had lifted from her shoulders. Her family knew, at least. Breathing sharply, she quickly untied the letter with shaking fingers.
In one word, Jacob had managed to describe her feelings, and the situation, perfectly.
Shit.
Authors Note; Well hello again everyone, I'm sorry about the last chapter. It was quite horrible and short right? Well I hope you think this chapter is much, much better. The plot kind of thickens now doesn't it? And this chapter is a bit more dramatic and emotional than the past five.
I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out but I had to finish off some other fics and then we had some trouble with the internet and the phone lines. I tried extremely hard to make this chapter a reasonable length and as interesting as I could possibly make it considering my creativity levels are still low, Hopefully they will be back to normal soon.
Talking about lengths, My plan is to get up to 10,000 words by chapter eight. What do you guys think? Can I do it? Anyway orginially I had planned to add chapter questions to the end of alll my chapters but that's against the ToS which I hadn't realised at the time but anyway, they don't really matter. Look out for Chapter Seven, Coming very soon :)
Disclaimer; The OC'S and the plot are mine. The story title is Taylor Swift's and everything else is J.K Rowling's. Have you checked out my absolutely awesome chapter images for the previous chapters? No? Well then you should because they are amazing and all the credit goes to !lifeisasong over @ TDA, I swear that girl deserves a medal. Thank you so much for reading!
Chapter image by !lifeisasong @ TDA. She's amazing!
Coralie stepped into the shower and took a deep breath. Running her fingers through her hair, she let the cold water hit her back. She didn't mean to snap at anyone, but that letter said things she wasn't sure she wanted the girls to know just yet. With a sigh she turned to face the taps and turned them so the water became warmer. She closed her eyes and pictured the letter in her head and imagined her brother's face when she told him. He would flip, absolutely go mental, and then get them out of the country. But Coralie liked it in England now - they'd lived there for less than a year, and yet she was connected to it somehow. She had spent the last nine years learning English, on the request of her aunt who loved travelling- her aunt Giselle had told Coralie’s mother that she never knew when it would come in handy for fitting in with everyone else.
She wasn't just going to pack it up and leave because someone decided to target them. Quickly changing back into reality, Coralie grabbed her shampoo bottle and squeezed a bit onto her hand. She ran her hands through her hair quickly and stood back under the shower. By washing the shampoo out of her hair she felt like all her worries were going down the drain too. Finally feeling refreshed, Coralie wrapped a warm towel around herself and walked over to the fogged up mirror. Using her arm she cleared most of the fog so she could stare at her reflection.
"If she ripped it up like that it obviously means she doesn't want us to read it," Miranda said, pulling her hair into a ponytail and pulling back the covers for her bed. The six remaining sixth-year Gryffindor girls were gossiping about Coralie's sudden outburst. As far as they knew Coralie seemed like a pretty calm girl who hardly ever lost her temper. Which meant one thing: Whatever was in that letter was big. They all had their theories. Kiki was still convinced it was a love letter from that guy in Potions that was so obviously checking her out; Alice thought that it was probably a letter from a friend and that it wasn't really any of their business; Marlene thought it was a letter from an ex-boyfriend who was hassling her, or perhaps a current boyfriend; Miranda and Lily shared the same thought, that it was probably a letter from a family member; and Mary, well, she thought it was letter from aliens begging Coralie to return to her home planet, which Mary would be totally cool with as long as she was allowed to go along. When she voiced these thoughts the other five girls stared at her like she was insane, which she quite likely was, and went back to getting ready for bed. Perhaps Mary had watched just a bit too much Doctor Who over the summer.
"It's obviously something, otherwise she would have let us read it," Kiki said, completely ignoring Mary's last comment. "I think we should fish around a bit. You know, I swear that guy was checking her out. I mean, you'd be blind not to see it."
"No," Lily cut in, her voice stern. "Remember last time we fished around?" she said, directing her comment straight at Kiki. It was true - the last time the girls had tried to 'fish around’ they had all ended up seeing things they'd all rather not remember. In fact, Alice still turned red every time they passed the secret passageway on the fourth floor. The six girls all shuddered before Alice spoke.
"I agree with Lily. If something like that is happening with Coralie, I don't really want to witness it." Marlene giggled softly.
"She doesn't seem much like the type to sleep with three of the four Marauders within the week, but then again, originally neither did Shelena." Lily took a sharp breath. They surely hadn't taken Shelena for that kind of girl, but now she thought about it, there were clear signs. She shook the thoughts of her former best friend out of head and turned back to Kiki.
"Maybe, just this time, we should fish. Coralie's been acting really weird lately and I don't want her to feel like she's alone." Kiki grinned.
"I have the perfect plan."
Authors Note; Wow, It's been a while hasn't it? I'm so sorry but I have been so busy with school and everything that I haven't even had time to write this chapter let alone post it. The sad thing is that Chapter Eight won't be out for ages either as I have like 10 assignments due in the next week and I haven't started a single one. So yeah, If you don't hear from me I haven't gone into some coma I'm just caught up in school work. I'm aiming to have the next chapter out before exams in a month because I'll be too busy studying to write anything. Plus I've just started piano lessons at school so I'll be practising a lot. I practically had to slap myself in order to get this chapter out so yeah. Well you found a a bit more about Shelena Millen in there and while we're on the subject I've been trying to write the first chapter of her story for ages now but it just doesn't want to come to me, oh well I'm sure I'll eventually get it out. Sorry to cut it so short there but I suppose it's better than nothing. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you'll review. THANK YOU!
Disclaimer; The De Luca/Bennett Family, Kiki Soho, Miranda Perry, Cory Noble and the plot are mine. The story title is Taylor Swift's and everything else is J.K Rowling's. Have you checked out my absolutely awesome chapter images for the previous chapters? No? Well then you should because they are amazing and all the credit goes to !lifeisasong over @ TDA, I swear that girl deserves a medal. Thank you so much for reading!
amazing chapter image by !lifeisasong from over at TDA. Thank you!
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Lily asked as she and Kiki walked down to breakfast the following morning. Their plans had been cut short last night when Coralie finally emerged from the bathroom, looking to be in a slightly better mood than she had been before, and in order to keep her mood stable the girls decided to go to bed. Kiki has spent most of the night devising plans on how to 'watch over' (as she liked to put it) Coralie. Therefore, she found herself to be incredibly tired and a little aggravated.
"Don't tell me you're chickening out, Lils." She rolled her eyes with disbelief.
"I didn't say that. It's just, I was thinking about what Miranda said last night, and maybe she's right. If it was anything important, she would have told us or shown us."
"How do you know that, though? Think about it - we've only known her for like three days. As far as we know, she wouldn't tell us." Lily huffed. It was common knowledge that Lily and Kiki's personalities clashed sometimes and that it was a bad idea to get in the middle of one of their fights. Now that Lily thought about it, everyone in their group was completely different, and they definitely had clashing personalities, Sometimes this kept them close and other times - like now, for example - it tore them apart. Her thoughts suddenly turned to those of Shelena. She and Lily had been the best of friends since first year, and up till last year they seemed as if they would be forever, but then Shelena had changed. Coralie reminded Lily of her, the old her, when she wasn't completely boy-crazy. She hoped for everyone's sake that Coralie did not turn out like her.
"Gerroff." Lily raised her eyebrows at the jumbled mess that came out of Kiki's mouth.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Kiki sent her a dirty look.
"I said get off," she growled through her teeth. Lily took her feet off Kiki's stomach and sent her an innocent look. The pair was crouched behind a suit of armor, waiting for Coralie to walk past on her way to Divination. They had five minutes before they had to go Muggle Studies, and Lily was getting more and more nervous by the minute. Never in her six years at Hogwarts had she ever skipped a class, and she wasn't about to start now, especially if she wanted to make Head Girl next year.
"Where is she?" Kiki shrugged her shoulders and turned back to watch the corridor, which was currently deserted, bar a boy who looked to be in their year. "Can we just go? I really don't want to be late for class"
"I don't know why you even bother taking Muggle Studies, I mean, come on, Lils - you're a Muggle-born, for God’s sakes." Lily scowled. "Honestly, you know more than What’s-Her-Face."
"You mean Miss Wilson?"
"Yeah, her," Kiki replied, rolling her eyes to show that she really didn't care. Lily shook her head in disbelief before diverting her gaze back to the empty corridor. "I bet you even know what we were supposed to be learning today." Lily turned a shade of red and gave Kiki a little push. It turned out that Kiki hadn't been expecting Lily's move and soon found herself losing balance before she toppled over, bringing Lily and the suit of armor down with her. The boy turned to face them with a puzzled look on his face.
"When did you get there?" he asked slowly, walking over to the two of them. Upon noticing that they were Gryffindors, rather than Slytherins, he extended his hand and helped both of them both up at the same time before setting the suit of armor back up.
"We've been here the entire time. You just didn't notice us," Kiki said with a flirtatious smile that she saved for those of the male species who she deemed worthy.
"Who are you anyway?" Kiki looked extremely taken aback. Everyone knew her at Hogwarts, especially the boys, considering she claimed to have snogged every hot guy in their year, and it was no secret that this guy was hot. He had what Lily thought to be a nice look about him, though. He had short blonde hair and dazzling brown eyes that made Lily go weak at the knees.
"I'm Kiki Soho." She huffed and turned away promptly as if to say that he wasn't worth talking to because he didn't know her name. Lily went to open her mouth to speak before he cut her off.
"And you're Lily Evans. I've heard about you. In fact I'm pretty sure the entire school knows who you are. Still rejecting Potter?" he asked with a bright smile on his face. Lily found herself unable to breathe, let alone talk, so instead she gave a stiff nod. "Good for you. I'm Alex Crawford."
"Nice to meet you, Alex," Lily said, finding her voice again. He smiled again before he continued to talk.
"You're friends with the new girl, right? What's her name?" He paused, biting his lip as he thought.
"Coralie Bennett," Kiki interjected, an angry look on her face. "It's rude not to know someone's name, you know." Alex looked taken aback and turned to Lily.
"Excuse her. She's had a bad day." Lily rolled her eyes. "You've met Coralie?"
"Uh, not exactly. She's in my Potions class." At the words “Potions”, Kiki spun around with an amused look on her face.
"I knew I'd seen you somewhere. You were the guy who was checking her out in class yesterday." Alex went bright red. "You have a crush on her, don't you?"
"No. No. It's just, well... She's nice to look at, you know?" Both girls smiled knowingly.
"Just admit that you like her, Alex" Lily said, smirking slightly at his discomfort.
"I mean, she's pretty, but she'd never go out with me."
"But you want her to." Kiki stared at him, her eyes wide with anticipation.
"I never said that," he snapped.
"Come on, Alex. You can tell us," both girls taunted. "We promise we won't tell."
"Okay, fine. Maybe I do have the smallest crush on her," Alex said, tilting his head to the side slightly.
"I doubt it's that small," Kiki snorted.
"Fine. Fine, Soho. I admit it: I have a massive crush on Coralie Bennett."
Authors Note; I'm sorry for the delay but it took me longer than I expected to write this chapter. Sadly I doubt that Chapter Nine will be out any time soon as I have a massive project (also referred to as PB) due very soon and it'll take me the remaining two weeks to finish it off. Hopefully in my spare time I will be able to hop on for a bit and write some more. Just so you all know I've planned up to Chapter Nineteen so far and I must say it definitely gets interesting around about Chapter Eleven, Wanna hear what happens? Yes? Well you're going to have to wait and see for yourself. I know I seem to be repeating information about Shelena Millen but she is quite an important character later on, While we're on that subject last time I mentioned the fact I was having trouble with her story and well I still am so if any of you having any ideas they would be much appreciated. One more thing, what do you guys think of Alex? So I think I've pretty much covered everything I need to tell you guys so thanks for reading and please review, they are amazing at helping my creativity levels up.
Disclaimer; Coralie De Luca/Bennett, The rest of the De Luca/Bennett family.Any other OC's and the plot are all owned by yours truly. The story title is taken from the song of the same name by Taylor Swift and the lyrics included by Three Days Grace. The amazing chapter images for the past chapters are made by the amazing !lifeisasong over @ TDA. Everything else is J.K Rowling's.
Amazing image by !lifeisasong over at TDA
"Good morning, oh lovely world we live in," Marlene sang, pulling Alice's curtains back in order to let the sunlight stream in.
"Damn you and your morning person-ness," Alice groaned, pulling her blankets over her head.
"I second that," Coralie, replied muffled by her pillow.
"Come on, sleepyheads. It's a beautiful day outside. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining. And there are three incredibly hot guys standing topless by the lake."
"What?" came the reply of the girls as they all sprung out of bed in order to see these “incredibly hot topless guys”.
"They are definitely worth getting out of bed for," Coralie said, leaning against the window in order to get a better look."I bags the black-haired one. "Dark and mysterious, just my type." Just as she finished her sentence the three boys turned around, and, catching their eyes on the girls, they winked.
"Ew, Marauders," Kiki commented, walking back to her bed and getting back in the covers."So not worth getting up for." The girls all agreed and continued doing whatever they were before. Coralie still stood at the window, staring down at the black-haired one. Sirius caught her looking again and winked up at her for the second time. She blushed, trying hard to hide it before rolling her eyes and walking back over to her bed, hoping for another few hours’ sleep.
When the girls finally woke up, feeling refreshed, it was almost time for lunch. Coralie was a tad surprised - she could hardly ever sleep in, and when she did the latest was probably around ten o'clock before she gave in and got up. Coralie linked arms with Alice as they all walked down to the Great Hall.
"I saw you looking at Sirius before," she whispered into Coralie's ear. Before Coralie had a chance to deny it, she continued. "I don't blame you. He's not half-bad to look at." Both girls smiled as they walked into the Great Hall, taking their place at the end of the table. She looked around the Hall quickly, her eyes finding a pair of grey ones staring straight at her. She smiled softly at Sirius, and he returned it with another wink - Coralie was beginning to wonder if he could show another kind of emotion when he smiled flirtatiously at her before jerking his hand to the door and then using his eyes to signify the two of them. She stared at him for a moment before glancing over to her talkative friends and then back to him. She nodded and stood up.
"I just forgot the Divination homework we have. I really need to do it." She smiled nervously - there was no way these new friends of hers would believe her. First of all, there wasn't any Divination homework, and secondly, she'd done all her homework last night.
"God, I'm starting to wonder why you weren't put in Ravenclaw," Kiki sighed. Coralie noticed that her mind was elsewhere. The other girls simply nodded as Coralie left. She found Sirius waiting for her just around the corner, leaning casually against the wall. Some of his hair had fallen into his eyes and Coralie had to fight herself to resist brushing it out of his eyes.
"Hello there," he smirked, drinking her appearance in.
The conversation quickly changed paths as Coralie disappeared. Kiki was only half-listening; her mind was on Alex and how she was going to get him to ask out Coralie. She noticed him sitting by himself at the Hufflepuff table. Didn't he have any friends? Maybe Coralie would be good for him. She stood up, muttering an excuse before walking over to him and sliding into the empty seat next to him.
"Just hurry up and do it, Crawford, before you change your mind again."
"Oh, back to a last name basis, are we, Soho?" Alex asked, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly.
"We never left, Crawford," Kiki replied, trying to be as innocent as she possibly could - this didn't work out overly well for her.
"It's too difficult. She'll just say no anyway."
"It's simple. Walk up to her and ask her to Hogsmeade. See? Simple."
"What if she doesn't know who I am?"Alex said, absentmindedly playing with the hem of his school shirt. Kiki sighed frustratingly. Now he was just making up pathetic excuses.
"How could she not? You sit behind her in Potions and you practically drool over her. Besides, Lily and I already told her you like her," Kiki said nonchalantly, ignoring Alex's murderous stare.
"What about her and Black?"Alex retorted. He seemed to enjoy coming up with pathetic reasons not to ask Coralie out.
"What do you mean? There's nothing going on between her and Black."
"Like you didn't see the two of them this morning. They were having eye sex."
"Eye sex?"
"Lily?" Alice asked, staring at the letter in front of her.
"What's up, Alice?" she replied, sitting next to Alice on Coralie's bed.
"Another letter came for Coralie." The other girls all crowded around her.
"Should we open it?" Miranda asked, staring at letter. All the girls turned to face Lily, who shrugged her shoulders and slowly opened it, her eyes staring at the small piece of parchment.
Coralie Bennett,
Hogwarts, oh dear Hogwarts. The safest place in the wizarding world with old Dumbley there, but let me tell you this, dear. He doesn't scare me. Did you really think you could escape me that easily? Until Miss Bennett made any good friends who'd be willing to stick by her, even with your past? Waiting tightly for your reply. Let your mother know that your family's demise is underway.
Your Sweetheart
Lily stared at the note with wide eyes, the other girls all watching her in anticipation. Marlene spoke first.
"Was Kiki right? It was Alex, right?" Lily shook her head - she was too focused on collecting her thoughts to speak. "Who was it then? Cory? That Ravenclaw from Charms?" Lily shook her head again. "Black?" Lily's eyes went wider, if that was even possible.
"First of all, why would Black send Coralie a love letter? Bit too romantic for him."
"Obviously you've been ignoring the sexual tension between the two of them." Lily looked outraged.
"There is no sexual tension between Cora and Black."
"Lils, I hate to say it, but you must be blind not to see it," Alice piped up.
"I will ignore that and move on. As I was saying-"
"So you admit the tension’s there?" Mary asked. Lily ignored her.
"It's not really what I'd define as a love letter."
"What is it, then?"
"It's more of a I-have-something-against-you-but-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-because-it's-actually-really-stupid-so-instead-I'm-going-to-ruin-your-life-because-I'm-secretly-in-love-with-you letter."
"Also known as an IHSAYBINGTTYBIARSSIIGTRYLBISILWY," Miranda pitched in.
"So what do we do?"
Authors Note; Considering the queue has been closed and my updates have been pretty slow I decided to give you guys this mega chapter. There are probably heaps of questions like, Whats happening with Cora and Sirius? And what about Alex? And who is Coralie's sweetheart? Well, here's where I be extra mean and say you'll have to wait til next time. It'd be really great to have some more reviews, although the eighteen I have at the moment are amazing I'd love to hear what the rest of you think. I'd like to thank the twenty three people who have favorited this story so far and odd 3,000 that have read the previous chapters. I never thought I'd get such amazing results from this story. So THANK YOU! Depending on school and things I hope to have the next chapter out in the next fortnight or so.
Disclaimer; Coralie Bennett, the rest of the Bennett family, any other OC's and the plot are all owned by yours truly. The story title is taken from the song of the same name by Taylor Swift. . Massive thank you to elizabeth_black, my brand new (and first) beta! Everything else is J.K's. Thanks to everyone for reading.
amazing chapter image made by lollipop. over @ TDA. Isn't it amazing?
"What can we do?" Lily asked, folding the letter up again and putting it back on Coralie's bed, exactly the way she had found it. She sighed before turning to face all the rest of her friends, who were all spread out over the spacious dormitory.
"We could ask her about it," Alice suggested as she lay upside down on her four-poster bed, her hair sprawled out like a halo. The latest edition of Witch Weekly slid off her stomach and lay forgotten on the floor as she stood up to look at Coralie's letter.
"Yeah, ‘cause that went so well last time," Marlene snapped sarcastically, slamming shut the old Charms book she had previously been reading.
"But this time we're offering to help her," Alice retorted from her powder table, rolling her dark blue eyes at Marlene's reflection.
"I say we send a reply," Miranda smirked from her place on the floor besides Coralie's bedside table. "Give him a piece of our minds; tell him to back off and, maybe even find out who he is. We can curse – !"
“And get ourselves on his list?” Marlene demanded furiously. “Or get killed? I don't think so," she added, flicking some of her black hair behind her. "I know she's a nice person and all, but we haven't known her anywhere near long enough for me to put myself on the line for her –"
Alice shook her head. "This is where I disagree with you," she cut in before Marlene could add anything else. "Sure, we haven't known her very long, but if this 'sweetheart' is harassing her, we should do something! Or at the least, tell someone who can help!"
"Like who?" Lily asked fairly from the corner, her green eyes laced with worry.
Mary, who hadn't really been paying attention until now, nodded. "Dumbledore?" she suggested, twirling some of her hair around her fingers, like she always did whenever she got nervous. "McGonagall, even?"
Miranda bit down on her lip. "What about someone who's more our age? Someone who can make this guy’s life hell?" she suggested mysteriously.
"Who do you have in mind?" Lily asked sceptically. The other girls looked on with a mixture of excitement and worry.
"Two words for you." Miranda paused dramatically, and the girls all looked dumbfounded. "The Marauders," she said simply.
"This is stupid, Miranda," Lily argued as the pair descended the girls’ staircase, "there is no way they're going to agree. Besides, I honestly don't think this is the best of ideas –"
"They'll agree," Miranda replied nonchalantly, tapping her nose knowingly. Seeing the scowl crossing Lily's features, she shrugged her shoulders to annoy her friend. "Just offer Potter a date with you and he'll be in before you can say Quidditch."
"You are not offering Potter a date with me," Lily informed her through gritted teeth.
"Aw, why not, Evans? It'll be loads of fun," came the cheery voice of James Potter from the chairs around the coffee table by the fire. Miranda didn't know how he did it; after continuously being rejected by Lily, somehow he never gave up. She knew Lily hated him for it but Miranda had always felt a strange trust in him; she knew he wouldn't dare break Lily's heart, but for some reason Lily, couldn't or simply didn't want to see that.
"Potter," Lily groaned, turning around to see James's smug smile. Okay, so maybe that was the reason: The fact that whenever James Potter got within a five mile radius of Lily Evans, he acted like a stupid, arrogant git. Sometimes Miranda could see why Lily hated him so much, but even Lily had to admit, James Potter was definitely one of the more attractive males in the school.
"Lily-kins," he replied with an arrogant tone, the one Lily liked to call his I-think-I'm-best-at-everything voice. His smug smile did not leave his lips.
"Hello, Miranda," Remus said, sending her a small smile and a wave. Remus Lupin was another attractive student. Cute for sure, but there was something mysterious about him, with the scars on his face and his trips to his ill mother every month. Miranda wasn't sure why, but something was definitely fishy about that. "Lily," he nodded to the redhead, some of his sandy brown hair falling into his eyes.
"Hi Remus," she smiled back politely, before turning to James, who was watching her with wide eyes like she was the first girl he'd ever seen. Miranda rolled her eyes - cute but weird was how she described James. "We have a proposition for you," Lily informed the two Marauders.
"Interesting...” James mused, messing up his black hair. “Does it involve my Lily-Flower?" he asked innocently.
Lily glared at him before switching her glare to Miranda, who sent her back a wide grin and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Coralie, actually," she answered, her eyes flickering over to Remus, who was watching the conversation with interest. "And it involves ruining someone's life."
"I thought she was your friend," Peter stated in his small voice; his two friends nodded in agreement.
Most people didn't think Peter fitted in with the Marauders. All he ever did was follow James and Sirius around. However, Miranda knew different. She had worked with Peter on a project the year before, just after everyone had found out Shelena had slept with James. Peter had told her how cut up Sirius was, and how the pair of best friends couldn't look at each other without wanting to rip each other’s hearts out. It was Peter who got them talking again, told them they were being stupid and there was no point wasting a good friendship over a girl like Shelena.
"Not her life, the life of this guy who's messing with her," Miranada explained, exasperated. Although Peter was great guy, sometimes he could be just a little dim.
"Well, what do you want us to do?" Remus asked with a puzzled expression on his face. He probably wasn't as used to blackmail as the other Marauders.
"Make his life hell, stop him from pestering Coralie, the usual," Miranda said airily, tilting her head to the side with a challenging look on her face.
"What do we get in return?" James asked warily.
Lily rolled her eyes. Miranda could almost read her mind: He always needs a reason to do something...
"The satisfaction of helping someone nice?" she retorted sweetly.
"How about a party?" Remus suggested calmly. "One you don't report, Lily," he added pointedly.
It was true. Lily wasn't much of a party-goer, and she had more than once reported parties that Shelena had planned. She and Shelena had had many fights over it, but somehow everyone in Gryffindor still liked her.
The common room was filled with Gryffindors from every year, and most of them were already drunk. In the middle of everything was - no surprise - Shelena Millen, on the arm of an incredibly drunk Sirius Black.
Glaring from across the room was Lily, with Miranda standing next to her. Without even looking at her friend, Miranda could tell Lily was furious at what was going on. Miranda took a deep sigh and journeyed back up the staircase without even bothering to look as Lily grabbed Shelena by the arm and roughly pulled her out of the party.
Miranda wasn't exactly friends with Shelena. She was what Shelena considered 'too quiet' simply because, like Lily, she wasn't the kind of girl who got drunk at every party and snogged random boys who she wouldn't remember the next morning. The other girls who hung around with Shelena weren't nearly as bad; they were all kind and smart and, well, everything Shelena wasn't.
"What are you, my mother?" Shelena's drunk voice demanded loudly from the other side of the door, "because for your information, I already have one. And I think I prefer her disappearances than your appearances."
"I'm only trying to help you," said Lily, desperate and close to tears.
"I don't need her, so what makes you think I'm ever going to need you?"
The noise was unexpected and made Miranda jump half out of her skin. Although Miranda had always thought she hated Shelena Millen, it was only when Lily came through the door in hysterical sobs while clutching the side of cheek, where Shelena had struck her, did she realise just how far her loathing extended.
"Only fifth year Gryffindors and up,” Remus said in a calm voice, “and maybe a bit of butterbeer, to celebrate the demise of this guy." Remus focused his eyes on Miranda, silently begging her to agree.
Without even bothering to think sensibly, she grinned. "I like that idea,” she agreed, “seems reasonable, right, Lils?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "I suppose," she replied, sounding as though it was a struggle for her to say it.
Miranda grinned again and clapped her hands together excitedly.
"Well, now we have a party planned,” James began, “I'm going to need a date. Interested, Evans?" He smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Not in a million years, Potter," Lily answered calmly, although ice was dripping from the words.
Giving a tight smile, she and Miranda climbed back up the girls’ staircase. Looking behind her, Miranda flashed a shy smile at Remus.
"You're kidding. You're absolutely bonkers. There is nothing going on between Black and Coralie," Kiki exclaimed, staring at Alex like he'd grown an extra head.
"You're the one kidding, Soho. Don't you think it's a little weird that not even a minute after she left, Black was gone too?" Alex raised one of his eyebrows before taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. Kiki glared furiously at him.
"I still say you're bonkers," she grumbled, throwing a chip at his head. The chip bounced off his head and fell to the floor. Smirking at Kiki, Alex picked up and popped it into his mouth, despite the look of disgust on Kiki's face. "Ew,” she said blankly. “But that still doesn't explain why you won't ask her out!" she added forcefully.
"I don't want to," Alex mumbled, a blush creeping in his cheeks.
"Why not?" Kiki asked with disbelief.
"Because I don't like her."
Kiki scoffed and rolled her eyes. Alex mimicked her expression, and was sent a glare for it. "Why not?” Kiki demanded. “You told Lils and I you did just the other day!"
"I like someone else," Alex replied softly.
"Who? I promise I won't tell," she said warmly, putting on her best angel face.
"You," Alex said simply.
Authors Note; Um...Okay, I can't really explain the fact that I haven't updated this is in more than a month because I've had this half written for the past three weeks I've just been sort of avoiding this chapter, Don't know why but this chapter really didn't want to be written. Thank you to my beautiful twin Mellie who helped me write this chapter, My amazing beta Lizzie, All forty two reviews I've recieved, All thirty seven people who have favourited so far and all 4,600 plus readers! THANK YOU!
Disclaimer; I do not claim to own anything but the De Luca/Bennett family, Miranda Perry, Kiki Soho, Cory Noble, Shelena Millen and the plot. Everything else inclduing (sadly) The Marauders, is owned by J.K Rowling. The story title comes from a song of the same name by Taylor Swift. Thank you for taking your time to read!
amazing image by cookie monster! @TDA
Kiki walked silently down the corridor, thinking about what Alex had told her. No. He couldn't like her. He was supposed to like Coralie. She groaned out loud, pulling her fingers through her silky black hair.
She quickly glanced at her surroundings, insantly realising where she was. She closed her eyes tightly and let herself remember the last time she was here.
The corridor was completely abandoned except for Kiki. It was a late Sunday afternoon, and because the weather was so lovely the rest of her classmates were outside enjoying the sun. She didn't feel much like talking and had instead decided to take a walk. Usually she hated being alone, especially since that was all she ever was at home, but today it was a nice break.
A high-pitch giggle interrupted Kiki's thoughts and she rolled her eyes. Just another lust-filled couple in a broom closet. She was halfway down the corridor when she heard a low husky voice. God, she'd know that voice from anywhere – James Potter. Kiki never had anything against James, unlike Lily, and in fact the pair were somewhat friends, but that didn't mean she would pass up the opportunity to embarrass him.
Kiki pushed the broom closet open, almost laughing when James groaned as the light hit his face. Her smile quickly vanished, though, as soon as she realised who was pressed up against the wall. The tousled blonde hair and tanned, long legs instantly gave her identity away. Kiki blinked a few times, checking that her eyes weren't fooling her.
"Shelena?"
Another giggle, another husky voice. Kiki took a deep breath. She knew who was around the corner this time. Sure, it wasn't as shocking as the previous occasion, but she wasn't sure she was ready for it. Finally, she calmed herself down and turned the corner, coming face to face with the tangled mess of Coralie and Sirius.
"Hello, Coralie." She smiled as the pair untangled themselves, Coralie looked incredibly embarrassed while Sirius grinned cockily. "Man-whore."
"Want to join, Soho?" he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Kiki glared at him and without responding she grabbed onto Coralie's arm and pulled her down the corridor, ignoring Sirius as he called after them.
"Hey! We weren't finished!"
"You are now, Black," she called back, throwing her arms around Coralie's shoulder as the pair walked. Some minutes after a deadly silence, they reached the Gryffindor common room and muttered the password to the Fat Lady. Kiki could barely hide her smile at Coralie's nervous attitude as they climbed the stairs. "Guess who I just found snogging Sirius Black?" Kiki grinned, flinging the door open.
"You're kidding!" came Miranda's reply, jumping off her bed and rushing straight to Coralie's side, Mary quickly joining her.
"Tell us everything," she said, not even bothering to try to hide her excitement. "I miss hearing about Sirius's passionate kisses from Shel." Coralie's eyes found Lily's, which were obviously fighting back tears at the mention of Shelena.
"Give the girl some room," she whispered, picking up a book from her bedside table. The girls all looked solemnly at Coralie, wishing desperately to hear all the details, but decided better of it and all returned to their beds.
"I'm going for a walk." Closing the door again softly, Coralie head back down the stairs.
"Okay. So how exactly are we supposed to ruin a guy’s life when we've never met him and don't even know his name?" Sirius asked, casually flipping through a Quidditch magazine of James's. The Marauders sat spread across their dormitory, discussing the Miranda's proposition.
"Does that even matter, Padfoot?" Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but James cut him off. "Think about the party. We actually get to have a party that isn't interrupted by Lily Flower."
"I think Sirius would be in if there wasn't a party," Remus muttered, his eyes still focused on his book.
"What's that supposed to mean, Moony?" Sirius asked, sounding half annoyed as he threw the magazine to the side.
"It's obvious you like Coralie." Sirius tried to interrupt but Remus glared up at him through his book. "And not in the you-want-to-have-her-in-a-broom-closet way."
"I'm not obsessed with her like Prongs is with Evans, if that's what you're saying."
"No one's obsessed with anyone the same way as James." James scowled, looking to Peter for support; he was laughing on the floor.
"Great friends, you all are."
"As I was saying." Remus glared at James. "You like her more in a love-interest way."
"Love-interest way?" James burst into laughter. "Padfoot here doesn't like girls like that, especially girls like Bennett."
"What's wrong with Coralie?"
"Well, it's just that she's sort of quiet and..." James trailed off, his hazel eyes masked with confusion. "Oh Merlin, you do like her."
"What?" Sirius yelled. "You're mental, Prongs."
"No, I'm not. Usually you wouldn't care if we insulted some girl, but you care with Bennett. You're totally in love with her."
"I am not in love with her!" Sirius yelled, pushing himself off the floor and slamming the dormitory door behind him.
"Oh, he so is."
Coralie stared off into the distance, slightly frowning at the sun. The chilling wind was blowing some of her messy hair around wildly. Without even really thinking about what he was doing, Sirius walked towards her and silently sat beside her.
"So, what's the story with Shelena Millen? I've heard everyone else’s version but yours," Coralie said, breaking the content silence. Sirius stared over at her, slightly shocked by the bluntness, but answered anyway.
"She cheated on me. It's that simple," Sirius said, shrugging.
"But it's not really," Coralie replied, her eyes testing him. "She did more than that. Sure, she cheated on you with James, but I think you loved her. And that it hurt more than you let on. She broke your heart." Sirius shook his head.
"No, it hurt – you’re right about that – but my heart wasn't broken. I always knew it was going to happen."
"And just who are you trying to convince, me or you?" she asked calmly, standing up and heading back towards the castle, leaving Sirius alone with his thoughts.
"We're done with this conversation, Bennett!" he called after her. Coralie threw her hands in the air.
“We’ll see about that, Black.”
Authors Note; I woke up this morning and had an overwhelming urge to write this. I'm not sure why but I went with the flow and here we are. And wow, Chapter Eleven! I started this story in February this year, after trying to write the first chapter for a year and I didn't expect that anyone, bar my lovely twin, would actually read it. But here we are, 5,000+ reads later. I'd really like to thank EVERYONE who has read, reviewed and favourited this story so far. You guys are the reason I love this so much!
Disclaimer; The characters that you don’t recognize in this story such as Coralie Bennett, Miranda Perry and Kiki Soho are all characters of my own creation as is the plot. The title of this story was taken from a song by the same name written and performed by Taylor Swift and everything else you see/read is owned by J.K Rowling.
beautiful chapter image by minimouse @ TDA
"Cora! There you are." Coralie flipped around to see Kiki storming towards her as she entered the Great Hall for dinner several hours later. "Finally, you're here." Coralie stared at Kiki for a minute, who grinned madly at her before pulling her towards the Gryffindor table. "Is he staring at me?"
"Who?" Coralie asked, glancing around the Great Hall before staring back at Kiki, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide her face behind her goblet.
"Alex, of course," she stated, staring at Coralie like she'd grown an extra head for not knowing who Alex was. As far as Coralie knew, there were a lot of Alexes in Hogwarts.
"What, did one of your snogs go wrong or something?" she asked, smirking at Kiki's disgusted face.
"Ew, I would never snog Alex," Kiki quickly recovered. "You've got to know who Alex is, you know sits behind you in Potions, told Lily and me he had a crush on you." Coralie stared at Kiki disbelievingly, but she didn't notice and continued on. "And now he apparently likes me and was lying about liking you, and oh God, he's seen me."
"Oh, he's cute," Coralie smiled, noticing the tall blonde-haired guy who was walking towards them slowly. "Hello there, you must be Alex." The guy nodded.
"And you're Coralie. Have you seen Kiki, by any chance?" Coralie smiled up at him.
"Of course, She's sitting right the-" She paused, noticing Kiki had disappeared from the seat across from her. "Apparently, I don't, but I'll tell her that you were looking for her."
"Don't bother," Alex sighed. "She clearly doesn't like me back."
After a reasonably boring dinner by herself, Coralie walked back to the Gryffindor common room, her eyes taking in the new surroundings of Hogwarts. She loved everything about her new school, the old paintings, the classes, and most of all the people, a few particular people more than others. Like Lily – Lily was great – and Alice, Alice always made her smile. And... Sirius.
God, Coralie could die, just hearing that name.
But nothing would ever happen between the two of them. He was a player, and as far as she could tell, still not over his ex, Shelena. And she was the weird new girl who'd fallen for his devilish good looks like all the others. Cora groaned and brushed her fingers through her curly mess. She did not need this right now.
Coralie was so wrapped up in her own world that she didn’t notice where she was until the Fat Lady was asking her for a password. “Oh, Patronus,” she mumbled, and the Fat Lady swung open to reveal the almost-full common room. “Hey there,” Coralie smiled, taking a seat in between Alice and Mary. The pair of them smiled back, and Mary tried to say something, but she was interrupted as what seemed to be a body rolled down the boys’ staircase. All the sixth year girls stood up and rushed over to the boy, Lily standing in front and peering over the male form. It wasn’t until a howling Sirius Black came down the stairs that they realised who the body was. Lily huffed and stormed off from James Potter’s now-laughing form.
“Didn’t know you cared, Evans!” he called after her before facing the other sixth year girls and smirking. “Hello, ladies,” he winked, and the girls all, except for Alice and Coralie, followed in Lily’s footsteps byadding in dirty looks as they left the common room. James turned to face the remaining two girls and raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“Not bloody likely,” Alice mumbled, pulling Coralie out of the room with her, but not before Sirius could catch Coralie’s eye and blow her a kiss. When they finally pushed their way through the common room Alice turned to Coralie and let go of her arm. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t handle the sexual tension between you and Black.”
“Oh, very funny, Alice.”
Remus rolled his eyes at his best friends as he walked slowly behind them, with Peter right beside him. Up ahead, Remus could see the sixth year girls from Gryffindor sitting by the lake and watched anxiously as James spotted his ‘Lily Flower’.
“Evans, my darling!” James grinned, running a hand through his already messy hair. Remus felt the need to hide behind something from pure embarrassment.
“Oh, go away, Potter,” Lily groaned, rubbing her temples with a frown on what James would call ‘her perfect lips’.
“Oh, play nice, Evans. We all know you want to shag Prongs as much as he wants to shag you.” Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively at Lily, who glared at him.
“Just like we all know you want to shag Coralie? But of course, she doesn’t want to shag you nearly as much,” Kiki retorted, and everyone snorted as Sirius paled remarkably, but he quickly recovered.
“More like how you want to shag Crawford.” Now it was time for Kiki to glare.
“No thanks,” she said politely; Remus could obviously tell something was going to happen and cut off Sirius before he could say anything else.
“Well, we should be going,” he said calmly, his eyes darting between Sirius and Kiki, who looked ready to rip each other’s heads off without another thought.
“No, don’t leave. We need to talk about the sweetheart problem.” At Miranda’s almost-desperate voice, everyone fell silent and turned to face her.
“She’s right,” Marlene agreed, biting down on her lip nervously. Beside her, Mary nodded.
“We’re not exactly sure how to ruin the life of someone we’ve never met,” Peter spoke up. Miranda smiled over at him, and he smiled back half-heartedly.
“I suppose it is quite hard to do, but that’s why we chose you guys – because we’d have no clue,” Mary added.
“Clearly, you are girls, and therefore are not skilled in the art of pranks and making other guys’ lives hell,” Sirius muttered, tossing a rock into the previously still water.
“You want to say that a bit louder, Black?” Kiki snapped.
“Who got your knickers in a twist, Soho?” he retorted without taking his eyes off the water.
“Probably Crawford,” James added in, smirking over at Kiki. Lily glared at James before turning to look at Kiki.
“What are they talking about? Alex likes Coralie.” At this Sirius visibly tensed, and everyone else turned to face Lily with mixed reactions. “That’s what he told us,” she explained. At this, Sirius stood up, and without a word to anyone headed back up to the castle. Everyone else stared at his back with looks of confusion on their faces.
“Oh he’s so in love with her,” James smirked.
"No. No. No"
"Girl troubles, eh, mate?" Sirius turned to face the owner of the voice, half-expecting to see some desperate Hufflepuff or a nerdy Ravenclaw but instead his eyes fell on a Gryffindor with a striking resemblance to the girl who was currently invading his thoughts.
"You’re her younger brother, aren't you?" The boys stared straight at him, puzzled. "Coralie's." The boy nodded and grinned widely at Sirius.
"So...You're in love with Cora."
"I never said that!" Sirius cried as the boy grinned evilly at him.
"You never denied it though," the boy smirked. "Angus Bennett, at your service," Angus said, sticking his hand out for Sirius to shake. "Now, how do you want to win over my sister's heart?"
Authors Note; I had this half-written since before Chapter Eleven was even in the queue but I couldn’t find this motivation to finish it then I had this lovely long conversation with two of my friends and suddenly I had to write this, although I’m sure you guys aren’t complaining!
Disclaimer; I do not claim to own anything besides the plot and a few OC’s. The story title comes from Taylor Swift and the lyrics included by Maroon 5. The wonderful beta-ing was done by AquariaJasmyne. Everything else was created by J.K Rowling.
amazing image by aphrodite @ TDA.
Tap on my window, knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get so insecure
It doesn't matter anymore
Dear Coralie’s Sweetheart (whoever you are),
First of all we’d like to introduce ourselves, we are Coralie’s friends and we go by the name of The Marauders of Gryffindor. Secondly we’d like to thank you for sending what seems to be your attempt at a threatening letter to Coralie, you see we were getting rather bored. Thirdly, we’d like to mention that if you ever contact Coralie again then you’ll have to mess with us and we’re not opposed to hexing you.
Sincerely,
The Marauders.
James tied the folded letter onto one of the brown school owls; they had decided that using a school owl would be a better idea than using on their own. The owl squawked at James and attempted to nip on his finger, behind James, Sirius laughed.
“You alright there Prongsy?” He taunted, James glared at him.
“Hey, It’s your girlfriend” He replied, his face softening at Sirius’s annoyed expression.
“How many times do I have to tell you guys that Coralie and I are not dating?” James snorted.
“Well then she’s the girl you wish was your girlfriend” Sirius glared and whacked James on the back of his head. “Merlin, I was kidding Pads. I know you don’t want to go out with her” James rubbed the back of his head as Sirius hit again.
“I never said I didn’t want to date her. I just don’t know how to ask her out” James’s face sobered up quickly and he stared at his best mate with a look of shock on his face.
“Merlin Sirius, You really like her don’t you?” Sirius nodded reluctantly and James smiled at him. “I reckon she likes you too” He grinned, throwing one of his arms around Sirius’s shoulder as the pair watched the owl fly away.
From the top of the Bennett’s Grand Ballroom stairs, Coralie could see across the entire room; from Jacob and his friends laughing about something in the furthest corner, to her grandmother talking a guest’s ear off with her rapid French.
Looking down to her one-shouldered, teal dress she smoothed it out nervously. There was a tight band around the top of her chest which flowing material spread from and it fell perfectly at her knees teamed with a pair of white studded flats. Absent-mindedly, she twisted around the silver heart ring that her father had engraved her name on the inside of and had given to her the night before he left.
With a deep breath she took a step down the stairs and was quickly pushed to the side by Violet, who was wearing a dark red mid-thigh dress with the sides elaborately cut out so it showed off her perfect creamy skin.
Beside her stood her impossibly beautiful oldest sister Allisyn in a floor length, strapless dress. The dark purple colouring complementing her dark hair which was simply resting behind her ear. Allisyn smiled over at Coralie, flashing her perfect white teeth before pulling her daughter Haley gently down the stairs.
Coralie’s mother was next, she slid her arm through Coralie’s and smiled brightly over at her, giving her arm a little squeeze. Her mother wore a floor length creamy coloured dress with light grey patterns flowing through; her hair was tied back in a loose bun that lightened the perfect baby blue eyes.
“Venez sur mon chéri. Vous serez bien,“She whispered, lightly pulling Coralie down to the next step. “Je vous promets que tout ira bien. Je vous promets fille,“ Coralie stared over at her mother with terrified, sceptical eyes.
How could her mother know that she would be fine? “Et si ce n'est pas la mère? “ Coralie whispered back, her eyes nervously darting around the room. Suddenly, her Aunt Giselle appeared beside her; she patted Coralie fondly on the top of her head and kissed her cheek before whispering over to Marcelle in such rapidness that Coralie almost missed it.
“He is not here this time sister.“ Caroline nodded and smiled over at her daughter, and without a word, the three of them continued down the stairs, both Marcelle and Giselle confidently as the room turned to face them while Coralie tried to hide in their shadows, wondering 'who was not here' and why her aunt had remarked upon that. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Coralie pushed her way towards the back of the crowd and took a seat at an empty table. It didn’t feel quite right, without her father to pick her up and dance with her throughout the night, never leaving her side.
Her father had been uninvited by her mother, even if Marcelle denied it. They had been separated for years now but something had happened at the last ball that had pushed them off the edge. Everyone else is the family knew, of course except her and Angus. Angus found it odd as well, even if he was too young to really know what was going on.
While her mind was still on her father, someone had slipped into the seat beside her and was staring at her with adoration and wonder.” Excusez-moi mademoiselle, Voulez-vous danser?“He whispered. Even with his quiet voice Coralie jumped slightly.
“Oh je suis désolé. Je partais dans mon propre monde, qu'est-ce que vous demandez? “She replied softly. Typical of me to be in my own little world when a handsome boy asks me to dance, she scolded herself.
The boy smiled over at her and repeated his question. Coralie smiled over at him. “D’accord” She whispered eagerly as she was led onto the dance floor. Up close, Coralie could see into the boys deep brown eyes, as she was twisted around she felt herself blushing under the gaze of the boy, a boy whose name, she realised, she did not know....“Que faites-vous appelé monsieur?' she asked.
“Leo, mon amour. Et vous? “He smiled, pulling her back into his chest. She blushed again, watching her mother dance with a man named Monsieur Abney over Leo’s shoulder.
“Coralie,” She replied, staring up into his eyes.
He grinned widely. “Bennett plus beau de tous''
Coralie blushed a deep shade of red. Violet and Allisyn were far more beautiful than she, but Leo didn't seem to think so. He was much too sweet. “Vous êtes beaucoup trop sucré Leo “
Leo grinned again as the song finished, letting go of his hands. Coralie curtseyed and followed him back to the now filling table. “Je ne vous ai jamais vu à l'un de ces avant “ She said politely, wanting to find out why she had never seen him at the many balls before. as he pulled out a chair for her before sliding into the one next to it.
“Je viens seulement de retour d'Angleterre. Je fréquente une école qui s'appelle Hogwarts là, c'était ma dernière année. “ he explained, telling of the magical English boarding school he had attended.
Coralie nodded apprehensively, she’d heard of this school called Hogwarts and as a young girl she had dreamed of attending. However, she was unable to speak enough English to be enrolled at eleven and was instead sent to St Mary’s Prep School, a small boarding school for French witches and wizards. It wasn’t a very well-known school, unlike Hogwarts, in fact one would not have a clue the school existed unless you were actually enrolled.
“Qu'en pensez-vous? “ Leo asked of Coralie's magical education.
Coralie told the gentleman about her school, he nodded and smiled in the parts that were appropriate and when she was finished, he asked her for another dance. Kindly, she accepted and the pair were heading towards the floor when her brother cut in.
“Oh excusez-moi. Souhaitez-vous l'esprit si je parlais à ma sœur pendant une minute?” Leo nodded, confused, and Coralie was whisked away by Jacob, who had said he needed to talk with her. “Que faites-vous avec lui? “ He demanded. Coralie didn't know why Jacob was so angry that she had been dancing with Leo. Before she had chance to ask what was going on, she was cut off again as her brother began to pace around her. Something behind her caught his eye and he pushed her into the cold, empty corridor.
“Trouver Angus, et c'est parti. Allez dans les paddocks et courir, ne pas regarder en arrière. Ne pas parler à personne et surtout pas lui. “He whispered, pleading in his eyes as he told her to get Angus and run. Although Coralie didn't really fancy running to the paddocks in her fine dress, she nodded. Jacob smiled appreciatively and pushed her back towards the party before hurrying off on his own.
Coralie glanced around the ballroom quickly, trying to set her eyes on Angus. She could Leo coming towards her, and she felt light-headed. Taking her brothers advice she slipped into the crowd and pushed her way through. Through a gap in a dancing couple, she could see her younger brother dancing with one of the guests daughters. She became more desperate to reach her brother and struggled her way through, she quickly turned around to check that Leo was no longer following her. Unfortunately he was. Coralie took a deep breath and finally emerged from the large crowd and was now almost running at Angus, he had noticed she was coming and stood up, staring at her with his big wide eyes.
“Angus, Angus. Viens ici, nous avons à faire. Laissez tout et viennent,“ she cried desperately, willing her brother to do, for once, as she said and run; forget everything and run! Her brother slowly dropped the girls hands and walked over to Coralie with puzzled eyes. she grabbed onto his arms and began to pull him through the crowds but something had latched onto her hand and was pulling her backwards. She tried to pull her arm free but the person had a tight grip. She was far too afraid to look back to see Leo’s face, He had seemed so nice. She felt herself jerked backwards again and lost her balance, her fingers slipping from Angus’s. She let out a ear-pitching scream and everything was black.
When Coralie finally came round, she could hear the quiet but panicked voices of a few girls. Tentatively, she opened her eyes and was faced with her dorm mates faces.
“Welcome back love” Kiki said grinning from ear to ear, the other girls didn’t seem nearly as enthusiastic as Kiki but she ignored there glares.
“Are you alright?” Lily asked, placing a hand on Coralie’s forehead to check her temperature. “You’re a little hot” She said worriedly.
“I’m fine” Coralie breathed. “Just had a nightmare” Alice nodded sympathetically, and forced the other girls back into their beds before she sat on the side of Coralie’s bed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked softly. “My mother always said everything is better once you get it off your chest” Coralie shook her head.
“I’m sorry Alice, but I don’t quite think you’d understand” Alice smiled softly. “Perhaps another day?” Alice smiled at her again and climbed back into her own bed, turning off the lights as she did so.
“Goodnight Coralie” She whispered. Coralie snuggled down into her bed.
“Goodnight Alice”
The next morning no one dared to pressure Coralie into asking what her nightmare was about and Coralie was thankful for this; although she was sure Alice had something to do with it. The girls all walked happily towards the Great Hall when they were all ready for breakfast. The Thursday morning was slightly chilly and Coralie had thrown on a few extra layers of clothes underneath her uniform.
“Hey Cora” James called as the girls sat a few metres from the Marauders. “And friends!” He continued, grinning madly at the group of girls who were staring at him. “We’re having a party Saturday night, you girls wanna come?” Lily rolled her eyes in disbelief; Miranda’s grin matched James’s and they had all turned to face Coralie. She shrugged her shoulders.
“Um…Sure” She smiled, James’s grin grew wider.
“Great, you can have your first Marauder party then!” Lily rolled her eyes again and took a bite of her bacon and egg sandwich deciding that she might as well ignore James until he left them alone. Finally James sat down at the girls all begun chatting amongst themselves again, mostly talking about what they were going wear and how they were going to do their hair and make-up. Coralie smiled at them, rolling her eyes slightly before she took a big swig of her pumpkin juice.
“I want to dye my hair green for the party” Mary said; out of the blue as everyone had quieted down to eat. Coralie, who had not yet swallowed her juice snorted, spraying her friends with pumpkin juice. Lily tried to keep a straight face, but could not contain her laughter for much longer and soon they were all on the verge of tears.
When the last class of the day was finally dismissed, Coralie packed up her Potions books and followed Alice out the door where the girls stood discussing their next move. Lily desperately wanted to go the library and finish off the Charms essay that Professor Flitwick had set earlier that day however Kiki would not ‘ever step foot in that dusty old place’. After much discussion they did that Coralie, Alice and Miranda would go with Lily to the library while Kiki, Mary and Marlene headed back to the Common Room.
Coralie was glad that she’d be spending some more time with Lily; the pair hadn’t had much time to really get to know each other after the short period of time that Coralie had been there. Coralie could tell that she and Lily already had a lot in common while there were still things they didn’t know about each other. When the four of them entered the library, it was almost overloading with people.
“Wow” Alice breathed, her eyes furiously darting around the library.
“That pretty much sums it up” Miranda whispered, before turning to Lily. “Perhaps we should go somewhere else? I’m not sure how much studying we’d get done here” Lily nodded, and thee four girls left the library silently before heading back to their dormitories.
Friday passed quickly and before she knew it, Coralie was watching her friends get ready for the ‘Marauder’ Party. She would be lying if she didn’t say that she was slightly nervous but also very excited, she wasn’t usually one for parties. Her best friend, Emma had dragged her to a few parties now and again but she was too quiet to be invited otherwise. Coralie smiled up from her Witch Weekly magazine as Lily asked her opinion on her dress.
Against her pale skin and vibrant hair, Lily’s dark blue dress stood out. The dress fell perfectly just below her knees and was paired with a pair of black heels, that even with she still fell a few centimetres shorter than Coralie. Around her neck was a simple gold chain that Coralie had seen her wearing almost every day but never thought to ask the speciality of it.
As Kiki emerged from the bathroom, after at least half an hour, the entire dormitory turned to face her. She grinned at all of them, and did a fancy little twirl showing off her one-shoulder creamy dress. The dress was simple, something Coralie hadn’t quite expected Kiki to own let alone wear but it suited her. She had tied her hair back in a high ponytail and dusted a little bit of make-up on.
Alice gasped, as she appeared from behind her drawn bed hangings wearing a brown patterned dress that reached mid-thigh and showed off her amazing tanned legs. Her short hair had been left out like she usually did and she halfway through slipping on a pair of brown flats. Kiki laughed at her as she slid onto Mary’s bed to help her zip up her dress.
Coralie had never quite imagined that she would see Mary in a dress other than her school one, in the almost two weeks Coralie had spent a Hogwarts she had learnt many things about Mary one of them being that she absolutely hated dresses. Therefore her party dress was nothing spectacular in fact it was a rather plain black dress that was made of flowing material and was matched with Mary’s favourite pair of Converse sneakers, Coralie giggled at her shoes before turning to Miranda who had entered the bathroom after Kiki and was now leaving.
Miranda wore a cute little peachy coloured dress with a large bow on the front; it just reached her mid-thigh and flowed loosely as she skipped around the girls’ dormitory, laughing and giggling as Mary joined her. Kiki threw her a pair of small silver high heels and pulled Mary back down onto her bed so she could continue fixing up her hair.
Marlene’s dress was by far her favourite; a low cut brown dress with a complicated pattern in similar colours at the bottom as well as a zip that went all the way down the front. Marlene had left her hair out, and was dead straight just like she wore it for every day. Previously Marlene had been trying on multiple pairs of shoes when she noticed Coralie watching from her bed.
“Why aren’t you getting ready Coralie?” She asked, slipping on a pair of modest black heels and smiling over at her.
“I don’t really have any nice dresses with me” The girls all turned to face Coralie with grins, much like the ones clowns that belonged to circuses wore. Coralie felt the need to back away but did not want to appear rude.
“You should have told us earlier, we have clothes you can borrow” Alice said, as she pushed her trunk next to Coralie’s and began to sort through her dresses, quickly Marlene joined her on her knees and the pair threw Coralie a couple of dresses, among them being a sparkly purple one, a strappy hot pink one and off the shoulder emerald green one.
“Try these one” Marlene smiled, as she pulled out a pair of bronze-brown heels. Coralie quickly pulled on the sparkly purple one and spun around to show Marlene and Alice who shook their heads with a few seconds thought. She quickly slipped out of the dress and tried on the emerald green one, the other girls had now turned to watch and all nodded in agreement as Alice grinned.
“You look amazing” Lily breathed, smiling over at her brightly. “Leave your hair down by the way, and curly. It suits you”
“Are we all ready then?” Kiki asked, as Coralie slid into the cute brown shoes. The girls all mused in agreement and fell into pairs of twos as the descended the stairs. Coralie took a deep breath, glancing over at Alice before she took a step into the bustling Common Room. Coralie had seen the Common Room busy, but this was just insane.
“Hello ladies” James winked as he and The Marauders pushed their way through the crowd to meet with the girls. “Coralie” He nodded, smirking at her before turning to Lily. “Flower”
“Potter” She gritted her teeth together and slid into the crowd, James following closely behind her.
“Hello” Remus grinned, nodding at each of the girls before starting a conversation with Miranda about the things they were going through in Transfiguration. Coralie fought back the urge to roll her eyes.
“Hello Sirius” She smiled, watching the wide grin that spread across his face. “Hey Peter” Peter smiled back at her, mumbled something about having to get a drink and disappeared. Just when Coralie thought that she and Sirius would get a chance to talk Kiki slipped in and through her arms around Sirius, dragging him off in the opposite direction. Coralie bit down on her lip and pushed her way through the crowd, her eyes setting on someone she hadn’t seen for a while.
“Cory!” She yelled, he spun around and upon seeing her, rushed towards her.
“I thought you’d died Coralie!” He replied dramatically, picking her up and spinning her around a few times. Coralie laughed as he set her back on the ground and threw her arms around his shoulders.
“I would never leave you” She giggled, as the pair fell back onto the couch beside a snogging couple. Cory rolled his eyes at them and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.
“You wanna go somewhere else? Where we can actually talk” Coralie nodded and the pair stood up again, pushing their way through the yelling crowd. When the finally reached the portrait hole, Cory let out a sigh of relief before Coralie pushed him through. “So much better, I’m surprised that I’m not deaf though” Coralie shook her head and pushed him down the corridor.
“Where are we going anyway?” Cory shrugged.
“Even been to the Astronomy Tower?” He asked, Coralie laughed.
“You mean the snogging tower?” Cory rolled his eyes.
“If that’s want you want to call it” He raised his eyebrows before turning away and continuing down the hallway, Coralie giggled again and followed after him.
As Coralie watched the stars glittered above her, she could hear Cory’s steady breathing beside her. She smiled softly to herself before turning to look at him, he was already watching with a puzzled look on his face.
“What?” She whispered, breaking the content silence.
“I was just thinking about something I heard the other day” Now it Coralie’s turn to be puzzled.
“While staring at me?” She asked with raised eyebrows.
“I was not staring at you” Coralie gave him a pointed look. “I didn’t mean to be, I was caught up in my thoughts”
“Are you saying I’m not worth being stared at?” Coralie asked, blinking her eyes a few times. Cory looked panicked.
“No. No. You are definitely worth staring at I just…I just” Coralie burst into fits of laughter. “You were kidding? You little witch” He groaned, glaring at her as she rolled around on the floor. “Alright, Alright. You’re not that funny”
“I think I’m hilarious” Cory rolled his eyes but grinned at her. “What were you thinking about?”
“I think Sirius Black has a crush on you” He said bluntly, sitting up. Coralie stared at him with a puzzled look before sitting up as well.
“That’s what Angus said, I don’t see it though” Coralie whispered, playing with her silver ring. “He’s not over that Shelena Millen girl”
“I think he-“
“No, He doesn’t like me. You’re both over analysing things” Coralie cut him off sharply. “Let’s go back” Cory nodded, as they stood up and started to head back towards the Common Room.
For a few minutes, the Gryffindors walked in silence through the long corridors of Hogwarts occasionally glancing over at the other. While Cory felt horrible for insulting Coralie, he just knew there was something there between her and Sirius, as much as he disliked the idea. It wasn’t that he wanted Coralie to himself, although he wouldn’t completely object to the idea, it was the fact he’d seen what Black did to other girls and she definitely didn’t deserve to be treated like that.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you” She whispered, once again breaking the silence. Cory nodded and smiled over at her, too caught up in his own thoughts to think of a reply. The pair fell back into a silence, this time it was slightly more comfortable. “What makes you think that he likes me?”
“I heard about what you two did the other day” Coralie blushed. “I thought you’d just be another bragging right for him but for some reason he said that you were more than another snog and you helped him realise something” Cory paused. “I’ve shared a dorm with these guys for the past six years; He’s never said anything like that before” Coralie smiled slightly at herself when she thought she was hidden behind her hair, Cory could see though and felt himself smiling too as they turned the last corner towards the portrait. Against the furthest brick wall, closest to the portrait their eyes set sight on a heavily snogging couple, Both of them rolled their eyes immediately but as they came closer to the couple Coralie slapped a hand over her mouth in order to cover up a giggle.
“Miranda Perry” She said, when she could finally speak again without laughter. Miranda quickly detached herself from the boy and turned to face Coralie, her cheeks flushing a deep red. The boy also pulled away, trying to hide himself from Coralie’s view but he was unsuccessful.
A very embarrassed Remus Lupin stared down at his feet, his sandy hair falling into his eyes. “And Remus?” Remus sighed, noticing that he’d been seen before glancing up at Coralie without opening his mouth. “About time” She snorted, pulling Cory towards the portrait. “Don’t let us interrupt you any further” Once inside the portrait, Coralie could not contain her giggling and had to use Cory’s shoulder as support. She was unsure of how long she stood their laughing but when she finally stopped, Cory was disappearing into the crowd and Sirius Black was standing in front of her, well that surely shut her up.
“Coralie” He nodded, fighting back the evident smirk on his face.
“Sirius” She replied, raising her eyebrows at him.
“I need to talk to you” Coralie fought back her sarcastic reply, and nodded for him to continue. “You see, I kind of l-“
“Hello Gryffindor, Hello Hello!” Came James’s booming voice and he stepped onto the wooden table by the fire. Sirius swallowed her throat and watched his best friend, as he was surely going to embarrass himself. As entertaining as this would be, he cursed his best friends timing. “Now, a lot of people were confused about why this party was organised. Recently, a friend of ours received this very ‘threatening’ letter” Sirius glanced over at Coralie who was watching James with curiosity and nervousness. Sirius wanted to reach out and grab her hand but as James continue, he thought better of it. “From someone who calls himself her ‘sweetheart’, Well we sent him back a letter telling him to lay off our friend, Coralie Bennett and it seems we have won!” The Gryffindors cheered, and Sirius nervously looked over to Coralie who was fuming.
“How dare you?” Coralie’s voice rang through the Common Room; James froze and stared over at her with wide eyes. “It is absolutely none of your business who sends me letters. You-I-I can’t believe you” She screamed, sending a disgusted look at James before glaring at Sirius and storming up the girl’s staircase. Within seconds, Alice was following her before the rest of the sixth year girls were passing by Sirius sending him sympathetic looks and mumbling that they were sorry. Sirius stared at them with disbelief, did everyone know about his crush? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, everyone but her of course.
Authors Note; before I really start my Authors Note, I’d like to point out this is the longest chapter I’ve ever written on HPFF and I really enjoyed it!
Please note, the French translations are written within the text for example; “Trouver Angus, et c'est parti. Allez dans les paddocks et courir, ne pas regarder en arrière. Ne pas parler à personne et surtout pas lui. “He whispered, pleading in his eyes as he told her to get Angus and run. Although Coralie didn't really fancy running to the paddocks in her fine dress, she nodded.= Jacob is telling her to run to the paddocks and don't look back. Sorry if this is too confusing.
So, I kind of gave up on NaNo a while ago and decided to work on this, it took me at least the past two weeks to write this as I continuously changed the starting and the ending before I actually started anything else. I actually hurt my hand the other day, so it’s been rather painful to type this up but I promised a lot of people that I’d have this up.
That in mind, I’d like to thank Lizzie, my amazing beta/friend who has been amazing with this chapter. Mel; my lovely twin, who pestered me until I finally finished this and Gemma; who was like my own personal cheerleader who constantly told me I finish this. So thank you guys!
Disclaimer; I do not own anything written here but the OC’s and parts of the plot. The story title comes from a song by the same name, written and performed by Taylor Swift as are the lyrics included below. Everything else belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling.
amazing chapter image by aphrodite @ TDA.
Alice sat staring at the closed bed hangings on the other side of the dormitory. One by one, her friends had drifted off until there was only her left, only her and the muffled sounds of Coralie’s tears behind the closed curtains. Alice’s heart was aching to go comfort her, but she wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to say.
She didn’t really know anything about Coralie - none of them did - but still, Alice could feel her “mothering” sense fighting through. She took a deep breath, deciding to surrender, and walked over to Coralie’s hangings, slowly pulling them back to reveal a puffy-eyed Coralie. Alice didn’t say anything - she couldn’t - so instead she sat next to Coralie and wrapped her arms around her, letting her cry out all of her tears.
“I’m sorry,” Coralie mumbled as she dried another set of tears. “You probably think I’m weak or something. I just - “ Coralie’s voice faltered, and the pair was left in silence.
“I don’t. Crying makes everything better, I understand.” Coralie smiled at her slightly and hugged her tightly, whispering a small thank you. “I hope you don’t think this is too early, but do you want to talk about this guy?” To Alice’s surprise, she nodded.
“It started last year, at this ball my mother held while we lived in France. Leo, his name was,” she whispered, tearing up a damp tissue nervously. “I met him there. He seemed like a nice guy at the time, and we were dancing and everything, and then the next thing I know, Angus and I are running through the crowd, and he grabs onto my hand and tries to pull me back.” Her voice caught in her throat and she glanced up at the roof; Alice could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. “My vision went funny, I lost my grip on Angus, and he’d got me”
Coralie didn’t know how long her vision had been out - for a few seconds, a few minutes or a few hours. She could hear the people screaming and the desperate calls all around her, but she couldn’t voice a single thought. She could feel Leo’s hands on her arms, dragging her across the ballroom floor, and then suddenly the arms were free.
She pushed her hands onto her face and pulled off the blindfold she hadn’t realised was put on her. It took a second for her vision to return properly, and when she could see again, her eyes were set on Monsieur Abney, who was holding Leo back. He told her to run, and she didn’t disobey him, bolting for the front door without a second thought.
When she reached the gravel driveway, she fell to her knees and tried desperately to catch her breath. She heard a scream from inside and she set off running again, heading towards the paddocks hoping desperately that was where Angus had gone. When her eyes set sight on the paddocks, she took a quick glance behind her, wishing immediately that she hadn’t. Coming out of the front door was Leo, looking very angry.
Coralie slipped behind a tree and watched as Leo kicked some stones around before heading in the opposite direction. She breathed a breath of relief and stepped through the gap in the barbed wire fence, a stray piece of wire creates a deep gash in the side of her leg. She ignored it and continued to run, her eyes set on the crouching figure of Angus.
She felt like crying with joy, and suddenly she found herself running faster than she ever had before. Angus was yet to notice her, but she was far too breathless to master his name. When she finally became close enough to see the expression on Angus’s face, she began to slow down. Angus was crouched over himself, his hands pressed against the skin that was exposed through a rip in his pants. Coralie’s happiness quickly faded away as she knelt next to her brother, pulling his blood-covered hand away from his leg.
“Je vous ai, frère,“ she whispered, rubbing his back with her spare hand. She would always be there for him, never letting go, for as long as they lived.
Coralie swallowed back a sob as Alice rubbed her hand up and down her back.
“You should have told me earlier, I could have stopped them,” she whispered, passing Coralie a tissue.
“They’re going to get themselves killed for doing that. You really don’t understand what they’ve got themselves into,” Coralie whispered back, drying her eyes with the tissue before placing it on her side table.
“I’ve known the Marauders for the past six years. They can work their way out of every sort of trouble that’s thrown at them. Do you know about Sirius and his family?” Alice asked. Coralie blushed slightly at the mention of the boy.
“No, we don’t usually hear much about the English over in France, and we’ve kept out of the way, really, ever since we moved here,” she explained, the pink tinge in her cheeks slowly disappearing.
“Well, they’re pureblood maniacs, basically. I can’t say I know overly much about them. Mum always kept us away from that group, but they are the sort of people who practice Dark magic. That’s why Sirius left. But my point is, they know how to handle this sort of thing. Whatever gets thrown at them, they can make it through.” Alice smiled, before continuing. “So your boyfriend will be fine.” Coralie blushed at this and picked up her pillow, hitting Alice over the back of the head with it.
“Do you think he’d still be awake?” she asked, staring at Alice with her wide eyes. Alice fought back a grin; if only the other girls were awake now, so she could prove them right. Coralie did like Sirius, and Sirius liked Coralie, even if the other girls were trying to push them apart. Alice nodded.
“I reckon he would be.” She smiled at Coralie knowingly, before pushing her off the bed. “Now go get your lover boy,” she smirked, as Coralie rolled her eyes. “I’ll wait up for you; I wanna be the first to know everything!”
When Coralie arrived downstairs after stalling on the top of stairs for at least five minutes, she was happy to see that the four Marauders were still cleaning up the common room. She stood at the bottom of the stairs for a few more minutes as she tried to come up with exactly what she was going to tell Sirius, when Remus noticed her and cleared this throat to get his friend’s attention.
“I think we’d better be off to bed now,” he said, smiling at her as he, Peter, and James climbed the boys’ staircases. The common room was quiet, with an eerie silence hanging above the two Gryffindors.
“So…” Sirius started, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he stared at the carpet, before briefly looking up at her. He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but held it back.
“I wanted to apologize about before; I probably sounded like a right bitch, screaming at you and James. It’s just, you don’t know what is going on with the whole sweetheart situation, and, well, I didn’t want you guys to get hurt,” Coralie whispered, receiving an odd look from the boy in front of her.
“It’s not your fault. We probably shouldn’t have gone around sticking our noses in your business, to be honest, but for some reason it just… well, I don’t know what made us do it, but really, we should be the ones asking for your forgiveness, not the other way round,” Sirius continued; he flashed a quick smile at her before looking back to the ground.
“So, all is forgiven then?” she asked nervously; Sirius nodded immediately. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” Sirius glanced up at her again, this time not dropping his eyes back to the floor. “Before, you were trying to say something.” Sirius paled remarkably but Coralie continued. “Uh, so, what was that?”
“Um… You know, it doesn’t even matter,” Sirius replied nonchalantly as he smiled softly at her before turning to walk away. She grabbed onto his arm and tugged him backwards, though.
“I know what you’re trying to say,” she taunted, her pink lips spread into a wide smirk. Sirius raised his eyebrows, although inside he was feeling incredibly nervous.
“Do you, now?” he asked, taunting her back. “Why don’t you say it, then?” She shrugged her shoulders, an innocent smile appearing on her face before it slid back into a smirk.
“Because.” She paused dramatically, which caused Sirius to roll his eyes - perhaps she was bluffing. She couldn’t possibly know what he was going to say before. “Maybe I want to hear you say it,” she finished.
Oh, she’s good, Sirius thought to himself, his eyes still on the smirking girl in front of him. He raised one of his eyebrows as he thought of a plan, his smirk almost matching hers. He half expected her smirk to falter, realising that Sirius knew what she was doing and she would give up, but the plan did not seem to work.
“Go on, then,” she urged; the hand still holding onto his arm gave it a quick squeeze before dropping it and staring at him expectantly. Okay, so his plan may have completely backfired, but with the bright smile she flashed at him, he found himself opening his mouth on his own accord.
“I like you, Coralie. Like, a lot,” he said confidently. His grey eyes searched her body before resting back on her face, and, without even waiting for a reply, he stepped forward and kissed her.
Coralie instantly thought she was dreaming, that she was still standing at the top of those stairs, or was still lying in bed and that the whole of the night was a dream, but quickly the reality came crashing back to her, and she wrapped her arms around Sirius’s neck, putting every emotion she had into the warm kiss. As they broke away, Coralie rested her head against Sirius’s.
“I like you too, Sirius,” she whispered, before they fell back into a deep kiss.
What seemed like hours later, Coralie unattached herself from Sirius and stood up from the couch, where they had moved after about the fourth kiss or so. Neither of them had any idea about the time, but as they were both beginning to feel tired, although neither of them would admit it to each other. They said good night and headed up their respective sets of stairs, but not before Sirius placed a soft kiss on Coralie’s forehead.
When Coralie slid back into her dormitory, she noticed that Alice was flaked out in her bed. She’d obviously been waiting for Coralie to come back and had dozed off in the meantime. Coralie smiled at her peaceful form, promising to herself that Alice would be the first to know about her and Sirius when they awoke in the morning.
Just before Coralie slid into bed, she pressed her fingers to her lips, remembering the sweet taste of Sirius’s lips before dozing off herself.
The next morning, Coralie awoke to the soft whispers of her friends and instantly smiled. She hadn’t completely forgotten about the events of the party last night, but in light of what had happened later on, she couldn’t exactly be angry.
“Good morning, Alice,” she cheered, giving Alice a quick hug before searching through her trunk for her favourite pair of jeans. Today was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, and at some time last night, Sirius had asked her to meet him at The Three Broomsticks - not that Coralie had any idea where that was.
“I take it last night went well?” Alice replied, smiling brilliantly over at Coralie. The other girls in the dormitory all stopped and looked between the two girls.
“Last night?” Kiki asked, voicing the rest of the girls’ thoughts. “What happened last night that Coralie should be happy about?” Lily raised an eyebrow, sitting down on the edge of Coralie’s bed and staring at the girl in question.
“If I’m right, she and Sirius Black just spent the entire night snogging.”
The room fell silent, and they all turned to stare at Coralie. She gave a small nod and a little giggle, and the whole dormitory was soon filled with cheers of, “Nice one, Cora!” and “I knew it was going to happen sooner or later!” Miranda had even pumped her fist in the air a few times and shouted, “They’ve FINALLY seen the light!” to which Kiki replied by chanting, “Score one for Cora!” again and again until Marlene hit her off Alice’s bed with an extremely well-aimed pillow. And with that, the madness really started.
Authors Note; so who loves me right now? I hadn’t actually planned on Sirius and Cora getting together for at least another two chapters but I didn’t want to upset my muse and have nothing happen between them. I’m hoping you guys do think that it’s too early for them to be getting together; I personally think the timing is perfect.
I had planned on getting this out before the queue closed but it was rejected *sad face* because I was stupid and forgot to translate something, which I was very annoyed with my self for but anyway...Here it is... Je vous ai frère-I am here brother.
Disclaimer; I do not claim to own anything besides the plot and a few OC’s. The story title comes from the song of the same name written and performed by Taylor Swift. Everything else was created by J.K Rowling.
amazing image by Magpie of TDA
Shivering, Coralie wrapped her arms tighter around herself. Her long-sleeved dark blue top was drenched through and through from the heavy rain that had come out of nowhere only a few minutes ago. Looking out towards the gates, it was obvious that the rain was set to fall for at least a few more hours.
She sighed; Sirius had yet to turn up, and the girls had all gone their separate ways, leaving Coralie alone in the corridor with a bunch of eager third years, one of whom was a pretty brunette girl, who was watching Coralie with wide eyes.
Coralie smiled over at her awkwardly, and she smiled back brightly before leaving her giggling friends to walk over to Coralie.
“Hello.” She smiled again and stuck out her hand to Coralie. “I’m Azure Simons, and you are?”
“Coralie Bennett,” Coralie replied softly, shaking hands with Azure.
“You’re Angus’s older sister, aren’t you?” she asked, and Coralie nodded in reply. “He’s really funny and he says you’re really awesome. You both look so much alike!” Azure gushed, causing Coralie to blush a deep shade of red.
“I must remember to thank him.” Azure nodded in agreement. “What house are you in, Azure?”
“Oh, I’m in Hufflepuff. I know a lot of people think it’s the average house, but I quite enjoy being a Hufflepuff, to be honest.” Coralie smiled radiantly at her. She hoped Angus was friends with this girl - she was clearly the kind of person who could make people smile just at the things she said. In a way, she reminded Coralie very much of Mary. “Who are you waiting for?”
“Oh, ah… Sirius Black,” Coralie responded hesitantly, brushing away a few curly strands that fell into her line of vision.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Azure asked, her hazel eyes widening.
“Uh…sort of.”
Azure blinked a few times. “You are so lucky! Sirius Black is like a god, I swear.” Coralie chuckled, as the rain began to stop. She could see Sirius coming down the corridor - he looked stressed, she noticed. His face lit up slightly when she waved over at him. She turned back to Azure and smiled.
“You’re a sweet kid, Azure. I’ll see you ‘round?” Azure whispered a reply and ran back to her friends, who were journeying out of the castle. She yelled a quick goodbye back to Coralie before disappearing around a corner. “Hey,” Coralie grinned, turning back to Sirius, who was looking nervous.
“Hi,” he whispered back. “Sorry I’m late. I thought we were meeting at eleven.” Coralie smiled and responded with an “It’s okay!” before they headed off in the direction of Hogsmeade.
To say that Coralie was excited to see Hogsmeade for the first time would be an understatement. The girls had been giggling about it for the past few days, and were constantly describing the quaint village with great detail to her, but Coralie found they did not do it justice.
The dark brick houses and shops with their beautifully high ceilings contrasted well with the lush green surroundings of the village. Coralie had to refrain herself from skipping down the cobblestone path. She hugged her favourite creamy-coloured trench coat closer to herself as she spun around, her wild hair whirling around with her.
Sirius watched her with an amused smirk on his face as her deep blue eyes searched the landscape, amazed with what she was seeing. “Are you done yet?” he asked; she quickly turned to face him and blushed crimson.
“Sorry, it’s just so amazing. And it’s reminds me of home so much.” She brushed some of her hair away nervously and took one more look before following Sirius down the cobblestone path.
“Where would you like to go?” Sirius asked, falling into step with her.
“Everywhere!” she chuckled, letting her arm be taken by Sirius as he led her into the first shop - a cute little French style boutique, something Coralie missed dearly from home. Sirius took a seat on a small chair while Coralie walked through the aisles, not even bothering to look at the clothes - she was too fixed on remembering her best friend from France, Emma.
For a few minutes, she thought about her friend and wondered what she would be doing now, and whether or not she missed Coralie, or if she’d become closer with the other girls. Coralie shook her head - of course Emma missed her somewhat. They had been best friends since they were born, and she doubted that Emma would forget her so quickly.
She’d been forced to leave without a goodbye; she hadn’t even had a chance to write a quick letter before she’d found herself in England and starting at Hogwarts. She needed to write to Emma, desperately. Had Leo got to her? Did she hate Coralie now?
Quickly turning on her heel, she made to leave the shop, but was stopped when someone called out after her. Sirius… Damn, she’d forgotten.
“Where are you going?” he asked, watching her with puzzled eyes. He’d stood up from the seat and was moving closely towards her.
“Sorry, I was off with the fairies,” she replied, her eyebrows furrowing.
“Are you all right?”
She quickly nodded. Sirius looked at her doubtfully. “Do you want to go get a butterbeer or something?” Coralie nodded again and followed Sirius out of the shop and into a pub called The Three Broomsticks.
The large pub was full of students, ranging from third years all the way up to seventh years. Most of them were laughing, some in couples, while others were in larger groups. Sirius laced his fingers in Coralie’s and pulled her along to table by his friends. He smiled at them and pulled Coralie onto his lap.
She chuckled, and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before waving at the other guys.
“Hello, Cora,” Remus said, swirling his drink around with his fingers.
“Hello,” she replied. She smiled brightly over at the boy. “Where’s Miranda? I thought she would have been here with you.” Remus blushed, and the other boys all eyed them curiously. “Oops. Sorry, Remus - I just thought, well…”
“Actually, I was going to ditch these losers later and go meet up with her, but now you’ve mentioned it, I might as well sneak away now,” Remus chuckled, downing the rest of his butterbeer before waving goodbye to his friends and disappearing out the pub door. The three other boys turned to stare at Coralie. James grinned.
“Okay, what did we miss?” It was Coralie’s turn to blush.
“Um… I’m not sure whether I should tell you guys or not.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “It is Remus’s business,” she continued.
“Go on, he won’t mind, Bennett,” James urged her along; she checked the expressions of the other two. Peter nodded expectantly at her, and Sirius placed a soft kiss just underneath her ear.
“Well, last night, before James’s outburst…” The boys fell silent, and James whispered an apology, telling her that he was completely under the influence of some heavy firewhisky. “Cory and I were taking a walk around the castle -“ Coralie felt Sirius tense at this, and he tightened his grip around her waist. “And when we were heading back to the party, we found Remus and Miranda snogging against the wall.” James chuckled.
“Score one for Moony.”
Authors Note: Thank you reading and I will see you in the next chapter.
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Paramore and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer
You've got to reach out
by Yellow of TDA.
The remainder of Coralie and Sirius’ Hogsmeade date passed without anything significant happening, they’d spent most of the time with the James and Peter going into a few of the shops in the village. Coralie felt almost disappointed that they’d barely shown her anything, sure they’d shown her the joke shop and the broom shop but they weren’t really Coralie’s thing. She’d have preferred to see the sweet shop; with all the description Lily had given her she could almost taste the sweets in her mouth.
When the four of them finally reached the Gryffindor Common Room, Coralie turned to face Sirius who was busy laughing about something that James had said. Without even noticing her, they continued through the portrait hole. Coralie was too shocked to call out to them, and the Fat Lady watched her with wide eyes.
“Men these days” She muttered, swinging open for Coralie who nodded in agreement before thanking the portrait. Entering the common room, she could see Sirius and his friends climbing up the boys staircase, her mind was so out of whack that she didn’t notice Mary running towards her and tackling-hugging her to the ground- that was until she was groaning in pain.
“Cora!” Mary smiled, hugging Coralie even tighter.
“Mary” She breathed. “Please let go- Can’t breathe” Mary frowned and released Coralie from her death grip.
“So…Cora” Kiki grinned, pulling Coralie off the floor and winking at her. “How was your date with Sirius?” Coralie’s smile faltered and suddenly she was being pulled by Kiki up into the dorm. “Okay spill” She said, climbing onto Coralie’s bed.
“It just wasn’t what I expected” Coralie shrugged her shoulders while Kiki glared at her.
“So maybe the oh-so-wonderful Sirius Black isn’t what everyone thinks he is” Lily added, dropping the book she’d been previously reading on her bed and sitting next to Kiki. “What did he do wrong?” Coralie shook her head.
“Nothing- Nothing. I’m just you know- looking into things more than I probably should”
“I saw how he just left you at the portrait hole, like he’d totally forgotten you existed” Kiki cut in, Lily’s face began to turn red.
“He forgot you?” She asked. She was almost stuttering her words and her emerald eyes had become dilated. “How?” Her voice dropping down to a whisper.
“He was with Potter, what can you expect really?” Kiki replied in a slightly louder tone.
“I’m going to kill him” Lily’s voice raised a few notches, causing Coralie to almost jump out of her skin. She’d heard that Lily wasn’t exactly a fan of Potter’s but until now she’d never been able to vision Lily upset or angry. She had a feeling that she needed to run for cover.
Instead, she found herself being dragged by Lily and Kiki up to the boys’ dormitory. Lily knocked loudly and the door opened almost immediately.
“Hello there Flower, how are you? It is lovely to s-“James started, an excited grin plastering on his face. He looked like a little boy who’d just been told that Christmas was coming early and he’d be getting the bike he wanted.
“You horrible, sick…. Ugh” Lily screamed, pointing at Sirius who’d obviously come to see the show. He looked taken aback, watching Lily with confused eyes. “You know, I’ve always hated you. Never ever saw what bloody Shelena saw in you, you’re a sick, twisted man whore!” Lily turned on her heel and stormed back down into the now empty common room- perhaps those Gryffindors were smart and ran at the sight of an angry Lily Evans.
“Yeah!” Kiki said, her eyes sparkling happily. She probably thought it was hilarious, well in that case Coralie decided she had an odd sense of humour. Kiki quickly turned around too, along she was more skipping than stomping. And then there was Coralie- she felt sick in her stomach and couldn’t stand the awkwardness.
“Sorry” She whispered, dodging Sirius’ gaze as well of those of the other boys. “I couldn’t- She…uh” Coralie stopped again, snapping her eyes shut in embarrassment. “I should go” She whispered, turning around and leaving the stunned boys behind.
“Looks like your girl’s got some doubts, eh Padfoot?” Sirius rolled his eyes at his friends’ comment.
“Girls never have doubts with me Prongs, at least my girl isn’t a raging maniac” James snorted, his hazel eyes rolled
“But Cora isn’t just one of those girls though is she? ‘Cause if she were, you would have shagged her in a broom closet and dropped her by now but hey…” Sirius’s avoided his friends gaze. “And as for my Flower, Sometimes a little insanity is worth it”
“Especially when it comes to the shagging, right Prongs?”
Once she had escaped the boys’ dormitory, Coralie slipped into the Common Room, except for her, there was only one person in the room- a smallish looking girl who’s nose was stuck in a book- probably the next Lily Evans, and so Coralie plopped herself down on the couch, causing the girl to look away from her book, Coralie smiled softly at her and turned her head as someone joined her on the couch- Angus.
He looked happy- Coralie was glad for this, she knew how much he had hated leaving France. In fact, the pair of them seemed to be the only ones who missed their petit maison.
“Hey sis” He grinned, throwing his long, thin arms around Coralie’s shoulder. “Heard you had a date today…” Coralie rolled her eyes- it seemed that both her brothers shared the same trait of needing to always know everyone’s business, not that she could say she usually minded it. She loved Jacob and Angus- they could make her laugh with their troublemaking attitudes which remind her somewhat of Sirius.
“Yeah” She replied, completely lost within her own thoughts. Angus’ grin faded and he tightened his grip around her shoulders. It completely astounded her, how both of her brothers could do that- just tell how she was feeling through a simple response.
“Are you okay?” Coralie nodded and rested her head in the crook of Angus’ neck even though this meant she had to slump down. “You know, I may be younger but you can talk to me whenever you want. You know that right?” She nodded again.
“Hey, do you know of Azure Simons?” She asked, her mood perking up remarkably. Her brothers faced turned to one of uncertainty, as she watched him- absent-mindly playing with the ends of her curls.
“Yeah, why?” He replied after a few moments.
“She likes you” Coralie shrugged, Angus blushed and immediately tried to hide it by pulling down on his blonde fringe.
“Cora, don’t joke” Coralie jokingly gasped, and bought her hands up to her mouth.
“I would never” She acted betrayed. Angus chuckled at her and bought her into a tight hug. Before Coralie knew it, she was being tickled.
“Oh Angus, have mercy on me” She shrieked, trying to escape her younger brothers grip.
“Say it again” He chuckled, pulling off Coralie’s socks and shoes and beginning to tickle her feet- This sent her mad, and soon limbs were going everywhere and quite a few members of the house had come down to see what the screaming was about.
“Angus! You – are the m-most…” Coralie was interrupted by a fit of giggle that erupted from her mouth, “Gorgeous, nic-nicest, smarte---st, amaz-ing brother” She struggled in his grip. “E-ever” She finished and Angus released her.
“Aw, you’re so sweet” Angus replied, and the onlookers all burst into laughter.
Authors Note; I hadn’t planned on getting this out for a couple more days at least as I’m in the middle of writing about five different chapters for things but someone asked me to get this up for them and here it is.
I’m not sure how many of you know, but just the other day I hit 10,000 reads on this story, which is absolutely amazing for I’d like to thank every single one of you for sticking with Coralie and I over the past year.
And yes, it’s been a year! (And a bit) The 27th of February 2010 was the day the first chapter was posted, and hey, look at it now. So anyway, thank you guys! You are ALL amazing!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by New Empire and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Say you're never going to hurt me anymore
And say you're leaving me tonight
After all the things that matter are apparently crossed out
The only one that matters isn't here right now
beautiful chapter image from AccioHedwig over at TDA.
A week later, Coralie and Angus sat next to each other on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall- staring at the piles upon piles of food stacked in front of them and their friends, who’d all agreed to sit with each other despite the age difference and personal vendetta’s- in the case of James and Lily.
“Well this is nice” Sirius grinned, wrapping an arm around Coralie’s waist. She sent him a look, which he replied with a smirk before she shook her head and returned to eating her lemon and sugar waffles. “What’s up Cors?” Coralie rolled her eyes.
“That’s a ridiculous nickname, you know that right Sirius?” Across the table, James snorted.
“You don’t think that’s true do ya Prongs?” Coralie rolled her eyes again, waiting on the response of James as the rest of the group was.
“Not your best one Pads” Sirius looked outraged and on the other side of Angus, Azure giggled.
“I agree with James, Corie is much nicer. Don’t you agree Angus?” Angus laughed.
“As her brother, I can tell you in great confidence that she prefers Princess Coralie” The whole group laughed and Coralie blushed, trying to hide behind her mess of curls.
“If you’re Princess Coralie…” Sirius brushed away the hair from her face. “Does that make me royalty?” James snorted again and Sirius sent him a look. “I’m being serious guys!”
“You’re always Sirius, honey” Coralie retorted without looking up from her food.
“Knew there was a reason we’re dating, it’s the humour” Sirius mumbled.
“Oh yes, that’s totally it Sirius. I would have thought by now in your relationship you’d know that my sister doesn’t have a funny bone in her body” The group laughed again and Coralie frowned down at her food.
“That’s not fair Angus” Sirius started, Coralie smiled over at him and grabbed his hand. “She’s funny when I’m in her” James snorted as Coralie dropped her boyfriend’s hand and stood up. “Cora, come on. I was kidding babe”
“Well I didn’t find it very funny” She spat, venom dripping from her voice before stalking off.
“Fuck” Sirius muttered and followed Coralie out of the Great Hall.
“Five galleons says Sirius gets slapped” Cory said as he placed down his goblet of Pumpkin juice.
“Ten galleons says they end up snogging in a broom closet” James replied.
“You’re on” Cory casually replied.
“Bring it Noble”
After leaving the Great Hall, Coralie hastily made her way back towards the Common Room. She couldn’t believe her luck; she woke up that morning thinking that everything was going to be great. She and Sirius were doing well, Angus was fitting in well and had made a sufficient amount of friends from all four houses and James and Lily had stopped fighting for long enough for everyone to enjoy a nice breakfast. At least it was like that until the owl post arrived, luckily for Coralie, all of her friends were too busy laughing over a joke that Angus had made- She’d bet her wand that it was at her expense, when the family owl Chouette dropped down a plain white envelope.
Completely oblivious to what awaited her inside; Coralie opened it and began to read through it. She could clearly picture every single word on that page.
Dear Coralie and Friends,
Isn’t that just sweet? A little threatening letter sent to little ol’ me, How long did it take you to come up with that? Sadly for you, ‘The Marauders’ I don’t care about your petty threats, I’m going to get Bennett back for what she did and you and all your sixth year magic can’t stop me. Coralie, be a dear and let little Angus know that as I write this I’m watching the remains of his old room burn.
Oh and Coralie, I will find where the rest of your pathetic little family is hiding.
Keep smiling,
Your sweetheart.
Pulling the letter out of her pocket, she began to rip it into little pieces as the sound of desperate footsteps came around the corner.
“Coralie?” Sirius’ voice appeared; Coralie let the tiny pieces of the letter fall onto the ground before turning to look at her boyfriend with angry tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry about all that, I really was joking” He whispered, using his hands to describe the Great Hall. “Are you alright?” He asked, stepping closer to her and hesitantly putting a warm hand on her arm.
“Fine” She replied, hastily brushing away the tears from her eyes.
“What was the letter about?” Sirius asked, staring down at the remains.
“Nothing” Coralie replied. Sirius stared at her with an arched eyebrow.
“You can tell me you know?”
“It’s nothing, Drop it!” Coralie snapped, shaking off Sirius’ hand.
“Whoa, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise it was your special time of month” Sirius replied. Coralie sent him a glare that made him instantly regret ever opening his month.
“Shut up Black” She whispered and Sirius could feel himself paling slightly. From what he’d heard from Angus, He didn’t really want to be on Coralie’s bad side.
“I’m sorry, I was just worried about you” He replied, taking a step back.
“Well, you don’t need to be. I’ll tell you when something’s wrong in the future” Coralie said casually, before taking Sirius’ hand in her own and pulling him along to the Common Room.
“Well damn” James said as he and Cory stood out from behind the tapestry they were hiding behind. “I believe you owe my ten galleons Noble”
“Ah, No I don’t” Cory replied as they began to walk back to the Great Hall.
“Ah yeah, you do. I bet that they’d go off and snog”
“Yeah, you said in a broom closet. They’re heading to the Common Room, therefore I believe neither of us win”
“Broom closet, Common Room. Same difference” James rolled his eyes and put his hand out, in front of Cory, who ignored it and kept walking.
“Not really Potter” Cory shrugged his shoulders.
“You’re just a sore loser Noble” James called after him.
Authors Note; Eep! So it’s only been like a month or possibly two since I last updated…I’M SORRY, okay? I just really couldn’t get this chapter written and yes, I really this is horrible but I’ve been doing Script Frenzy, which for those of you who don’t know is basically like NaNoWriMo only it’s a 100 page Script in the month of April and therefore my muse is stuck with the WWII love story that PurpleDusk (Go check out her stories) and I are writing.
In the last chapter, SourCherry (I think) left me a review asking to see more of Kiki and so I’m super sorry that she isn’t in this chapter at all, so just for you I’ve planned to make the next chapter to have lots and lots of her.
Leave me a review and tell me which character you’d like to see more of. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by The Script and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
And I’m leavin’ my door open,
I’m riskin’ everything I own,
Something I can lose in the breakin’,
That you haven’t already taken.
chapter image by AccioHedwig of TDA.
A loud pecking noise on her window awoke Violet Bennett much earlier than she preferred, thinking it was from Coralie or Angus she ignored it- She figured Chouette would realise that she wasn’t going to let him in and would go and bother Jacob or something but after another fifteen minutes of constant pecking, Violet gave up and pulled open her curtains.
“Stupid bird” She muttered, opening the window to a bird that she’d never seen before. “Should have figured Chouette more intelligent than this thing” Violet snapped the letter from the owl’s leg and shooed it out the window, cursing loudly when it nipped her on the finger.
“Nice to hear you’re up Vi” Came her brother, Jacob’s sarcastic voice from the other side of the wall, Violet rolled her eyes and banged on the side of the wall that was right against where Jacob’s head would be. “Bloody hell, Vi” He mumbled, she smiled at the sound of him hitting the floor with a loud thump. Serves him right.
Turning her attention back to the letter in her hand she quickly ripped the envelope and pulled the letter out with a flourish. Neither Coralie nor Angus had sent her a single letter since they’d left for their new school, she understood that perhaps they weren’t on the best of terms but they were still family and they’d always stuck together. She ignored the blood that stained the corner of the page from where the stupid bird had bit here and scanned her eyes over the page, quickly dropping it like it was on fire.
Violet stood up from her bed and stepped over the letter to begin pacing around the room, dragging her fingers through her hair nervously. What was written in the unfamiliar script burnt a hole in Violet’s heart. Was nowhere safe for them anymore?
Desperately, she swung open the door and marched into Jacob’s room- throwing his pillow at his once again sleeping from. “Get up Jacob!” She urged him, pushing his shoulders and slapping his face. “Jacob? PLEASE!” She almost screamed, pulling out her wand and shooting him in the face with a gust of water. He spluttered and glared at Violet through the drips from his hair.
“What now Violet?” He screeched, at any other time Violet would have laughed at the sight of her soaked brother but she could not find a single chuckle in the moment.
“He’s found us Jake” Jacob’s bad mood instantly disappeared and he shot out of bed.
“How?” His voice dropped down to a whisper, Violet could feel angry tears stinging her eyes.
“He sent me a letter, this morning”
“Show me” Violet led her brother back in her room and showed him the letter on the floor; he sent her a worried look and picked it up.
Dearest Violet,
You were always the hardest Bennett to find, everyone back here in France seems to tense at the mention of your name. Pray- do tell, whatever did little innocent Violet Bennett do?
You simply must tell me before I kill off your family; it would be a shame for you to take such a secret to the grave. Here’s a deal, you tell me the answer and I’ll let you kill your little sister. Everyone says you two don’t get along, pity really- I hoped to see some tears from you when I kill her. Ah well, those of little Angus will have to be enough for me.
If you’re reading this then Herbert- the owl, in case your little blonde brain didn’t figure that out, has found you which means it will only be a matter of time before I do.
Until then,
Leo.
Jacob pursed his lips together and gripped the letter tighter.
“What do we do? Do we tell Coralie? Or mother?” Jacob shook his head.
“Coralie already knows, but we don’t tell mother” He walked back towards his room and Violet followed him desperately.
“What do you mean she knows?” She whispered angrily, Jacob ignored her and opened his door- he went to close it but she slid in.
“He sent her a similar letter and she sent it to me” Jacob reached up to mess up his brown hair even more than it already was before dropping it back down again.
“Then what do we do?” Violet asked, almost begging to hear her brother’s plan.
“First you get out of my room” He started to push Violet towards the door, she stumbled out and just before he closed it, he added. “Now, it’s time to bring in the big guns. Violet, I believe it’s about time we dropped in to see Allisyn”
Looking out of the dormitory window and onto the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts, Kiki sighed and turned back to Marlene who was still going on about their Charms homework. Honestly, Kiki didn’t care whether or not she passed sixth year or not and she knew her parents wouldn’t either just as long as she was out of that bloody house before she graduated.
Kiki mentally slapped herself; she was starting to sound like Shelena- always thinking of herself rather than everyone else. She sighed again, fiddling with the bracelet she always wore- something she’d found in a vintage shop in muggle London, her mother told her it was worthless and to leave it but Kiki had found some sort of happiness whenever she wore it.
She knew her friends had similar items themselves, some had more value others were just little knickknacks. Lily had a tattered old copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets- Kiki never understood what Lily found so interesting about the book but now it was more obvious to her. Mary had a set of earrings in the shapes of musical notes and she had charmed them to sing whenever she put them on, and once upon a time Shelena had a ring that Sirius had given her- Kiki could remember them all giggling over it when she’d first got it. They’d laughed about how someday Shelena and Sirius were going to get married, and then it turned out all wrong.
Kiki could ever begin to imagine what stupid things were running through Shelena’s head when she decided to cheat on Sirius, they had been so perfect- the entire school wanted a relationship just like theirs and then they just went and through it out the window. Kiki hated to admit, that her heart probably broke more than Sirius’ did when she found out. They were everything Kiki wanted, they were in love and it was amazing to watch them.
Kiki could feel the sadness overwhelming her, She might have had something like that with Alex- if she hadn’t have run away. She closed her eyes, half amused by the fact Marlene hadn’t noticed that she really wasn’t paying attention to a word she was saying. When Kiki re-opened her eyes she noticed that Alice had joined them and was staring at her with a confused look.
“So…what’s wrong with you?” Alice asked slowly, casually brushing some of her hair out of her face.
“Just thinking, Alice” Kiki replied, smiling slightly at her friend.
“About?”
“Love and other disasters, no doubt” Coralie interrupted, joining Kiki on her bed. Kiki nodded in reply and Coralie threw her arms around her. “It sucks doesn’t it?”
“You can’t talk, you’ve got Black now” Coralie shrugged her shoulders in agreement.
“I suppose so, but you could just as easily walk out of the dormitory and get someone for yourself” Kiki rolled her eyes in response. “Perhaps even a certain Hufflepuff you’ve had your eye on for a while” Kiki blushed slightly and Coralie smiled at her, squeezing her shoulders. “You should at least go and talk to him and apologize so running off”
“You’re right” Kiki mused, standing up from her bed. “Wish me luck”
“You don’t need it Ki”
The white-painted, wooden down opened slowly- Jacob and Violet watched it with worried eyes before they caught sight of a pair of black heels. Both of their gazes diverted to the tall, brown haired woman standing in the doorway with a smirk on her face as she watched them.
“Hello brother, sister” She nodded to them separately and pulled the door open, ushering them inside. “Whatever calls you to this side of London?”
“We have a little problem, sis” Jacob drawled, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement while still laced with worry.
“Do tell Jake” She replied.
“It’s Coralie, Allisyn. He’s found her, and he’s not too far away from finding us” Allisyn pursed her lips together and looked up at her ceiling.
“Does mother know?” She replied, her eyes locking with her younger brother’s again. Violet shook her head in reply. “Good, that makes it much easier” Her ruby red lips formed a perfect smirk as she summoned a piece of parchment and a quill to her side.
“What are you doing?” Violet asked her voice laced with obvious worry. Allisyn just smiled slyly at her and replied with,
“Ne sous-estimez-moi petite sœur“
Authors Note; Quickest update ever, eh? Before I go any further in my note, the translation for the last line there- Ne sous-estimez-moi petite sœur is ‘never underestimate me little sister ‘. I don’t really have that much to say in this note other than I hope you enjoyed this chapter and check back in about another week or so for the next one!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Angels and Airwaves and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
There's a message at the river,
A certain package here to the deliver,
When the day breaks after nightfall,
I will be there, you know I will.
If Kiki had learnt anything from that day, it was definitely that she could run bloody fast when she wanted to. As she sped through the hallways, her mind was working a million miles a minute, Alex, Love, Hate, Shelena, Sirius, Coralie, Her Sweetheart, The pure agony in her new friends’ eyes when she heard about the letter the Marauders had sent to him.
She knew whoever this ‘sweetheart’ of Coralie’s was, they’d obviously done something horrible to her in the past- otherwise she wouldn’t have looked so afraid. As she jumped down the stairs of the Entrance Hall, she brushed all thoughts that did not have anything to do with her current task, off to the side. She had a feeling she’d need every ounce of her focus for this. She slowed right down to a casual stroll as she entered the slowly filling- as dinner was going to start in fifteen minutes or so, Great Hall.
Usually Kiki wouldn’t be in The Great Hall that early, in fact she wouldn’t be anywhere near being ready for dinner at that time but she knew Alex had a habit of eating early before disappearing into the library. She took a seat by herself at the nearly empty Gryffindor table and looked over at the Hufflepuff table, she could see Alex sitting there-with his back turned to her. Smiling to herself, she stood up and went to move towards him but stopped dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her.
She could feel the smile dropping from her face as she watched Alex wrapped his arm around a leggy blonde and kissed her gently on the lips. Kiki turned away, unable to watch anymore and returned to the Gryffindor table just as the food began to appear- she piled her plate high with roast potatoes.
“Kiki, Stop murdering the potatoes” Miranda’s cheery voice teased, Kiki snapped her head up from her plate and frowned at her group of friends as they now surrounded her.
“Hey, how’d it go?” Coralie asked, ignoring her boyfriend when he asked ‘how what went’. Kiki shrugged her shoulders and popped a potato into her mouth.
“Too late” She whispered once she was finished, Coralie frowned at her.
“I’m sorry Ki, but maybe it was for reason?” Although Kiki knew that Coralie was only trying to be helpful, she felt a pang of anger towards her friend. She doubted Coralie felt the same way about her sweetheart; she wouldn’t just take something like that as it came to her, despite how she was feeling Kiki let it go and nodded.
“Can you please tell me what happened? Or rather didn’t happen?” Sirius whined. “I hate being out of the loop” Coralie chuckled and kissed his cheek.
“That’s what makes it fun Black” Kiki smirked, setting both Coralie and herself into a fit of giggles.
Miranda smiled over at her friends a couple of weeks later, they were all laughing about something James was saying and Mary was close to spurting pumpkin juice all over them. It was the night of the Halloween Feast, they’d been in sixth for almost two months now and Miranda couldn’t believe how fast it was flying past.
To think that, two months ago she had no clue who Coralie was or how close they’d become. Two months ago, she didn’t realise how much Remus would mean to her. Two months ago, all she was worried about was Shelena, Miranda breathed out a sigh of relief- even though it sounded horrible, she was quite glad that Shelena hadn’t returned to Hogwarts for sixth year- the drama would be too much for her and she wasn’t sure James and Sirius’ friendship could take another blow from her.
“Miranda, you alright?” Remus whispered in her ear, she smiled and nodded, turning her focus back to her friends. She was sitting in between Marlene- who was casually eating a chicken wing and Remus, who was smiling at her. Directly across from Miranda was Coralie, she was leaning into Sirius as she laughed about something someone had said previously, Sirius was smiling down at her. Lily sat opposite Remus who sat next to Peter, who was opposite to Kiki but was yelling over the table at James, who sat on the other side of Sirius- next to Cory who was next to Alice, with Mary on the other side.
“Yeah, I’m fine” She whispered back, shuffling closer to Remus. He smiled at her and swung his arm over her shoulder.
“So Marlene, what are you planning on doing next weekend?” Kiki asked- Miranda noticed that she was feeling a lot better after the whole issue with Alex.
“What’s so important about next weekend for Marlene?” Peter asked, reaching over Remus to get another meat pie. She saw Coralie scrunch up her nose as some of the meat escaped from the side and splatted on the plate.
“Next Saturday is Marlene’s sixteenth birthday” Lily answered, chuckling at the disgusted look on her friends face.
“Not a fan of meat pies, eh Cora?” Remus teased and Coralie shook her head.
“Can we please move them further down the table? They make me feel ill” Miranda smiled softly over at her and passed the plate down to Peter who kept it in front of him.
“Are you planning on having a party Marls? We could set one up for you” James asked casually although the look in his eyes showed he was bursting with excitement.
“No, thank you anyway James. I was just thinking a small get together in The Three Broomsticks on Sunday. How does that sound for everyone?” Marlene replied, glancing between her friends for their responses.
“Sure Marlene, I can’t wait!” Coralie replied, grinning. Sirius quickly agreed with her and within seconds everyone had agreed to the plans.
“We could meet up around 1 or so?” Lily added and Marlene nodded in reply. “That way we have a bit of time to do whatever we want”
“Last minute birthday shopping” Kiki joked, sticking her tongue out at Marlene who rolled her eyes.
“I hope you all get my awesome birthday presents in those extra couple of hours” Marlene teased.
“Please, don’t let me eat every again Sirius” Coralie joked as they all collapsed into the couches in the Common Room, two hours later.
“I’ll try Cors” Came Sirius’ reply a few minutes later.
“I second Cors’ request” James groaned, hugging his stomach in the manliest way possible. The Common Room fell into silence, interrupted by the occasional groan of pain from someone. Just as Coralie began to doze off in Sirius’ arms, there was a loud peck at the window that caused the whole Common Room to jump.
“Someone get that stupid owl!” Kiki groaned and Coralie peeled herself away from Sirius, opening the window she pulled the letter off the owl’s leg and flipped it off to see who it was addressed to.
“Who’s the letter for Cors?” Sirius asked, staring up at the roof. “Coralie?” He sat up to see his girlfriend staring at the letter in her hands; he stood up and made his way over to her. Gently, he took the letter and opened it, he read through the letter quickly. “Shit” He muttered.
“What is it Padfoot?” James asked from his spot on the floor.
“It’s him again” With that comment, all the sixth year sat up and moved over to the window. Kiki threw her arms around Coralie and pulled her close, stroking her hair in order to comfort her.
“Read it out loud” Coralie whispered and Sirius bit down on his lip, he did what he was told even though he really didn’t want to.
“Dear Coralie” He paused. “I think this is a good time to mention to you that my owl has found your idiot sister, Violet which means I’m very close to finding your new home. Tell me Cora, is it as pretty as your old one or do you live in a shack nowadays? I miss you, love but don’t worry I’ll be there soon” Sirius paused again as Coralie let out a strangled cry, Kiki held her closer and Lily began to whisper calming words to her. “Love, your sweetheart” Sirius finished quietly, placing the letter down on the windowsill. “I won’t let him hurt you Cors, I promise” He whispered, placing a soft kiss on the side of her forehead.
“None of us will” Lily added in a soft voice.
“Never, we’re here to protect you” James whispered from the side lines, Coralie smiled into Kiki’s hair.
“Thank you guys”
Ever since she received the first letter from Leo, Violet had taken to getting up early and checking the entire house for sight of an owl or letter before her mother got up. For the first few days Jacob had done the same but he was getting lazier and lazier and Violet found that she could search quick and more efficiently without her annoying brother.
She’d only ever found a couple, one or two in the library- always on the same battered old copy of fairy tales that probably belonged to Coralie- she loved fairy tales for some reason, but generally they were always delivered to Violet’s window by that stupid ‘Herbert’.
Today was no different, Violet waited by her windowsill as the white with golden feathered owl came into her view- if she wasn’t so anxious to read the letter then Violet probably would have been occupied by its beauty. As it swooped in, Violet quickly untied the letter and shooed Herbert away. She quickly ripped open the letter and read through it quickly, it wasn’t much out of the ordinary. I will find you. You will watch your family die. Just give up. And then the classic line, Love Leo.
Violet snorted and grabbed her wand and pointed it at the letter “Incendio”, she said clearly before throwing the charred remains of the letter in her bin and searching the house for any other surprise letters.
Sunday came around quickly and before they knew it, Coralie and Sirius were walking hand-in-hand through Hogsmeade. They’d left Hogwarts at ten, both agreeing with one another that they needed some time before they met up with everyone else in The Three Broomsticks.
“Have he sent you anything else?” Sirius asked breaking the content silence; Coralie didn’t look him in the eye but nodded in reply. “I’m sorry for bringing it up Cors; I’m just worried about you”
“I know Sirius” She replied calmly, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around his stomach. He smiled down at her and placed his hand on her back.
“You’re beautiful” He whispered, she smiled into his chest.
“You are too” Sirius chuckled and whispered a thank you as they entered Honeydukes. Coralie smiled as Sirius led her through the aisles, pointing out which sweets he thought she’d like and which ones to definitely stay away from. With Sirius’ help she picked out at least ten different types of candy that she’d never ever heard of before.
“I swear, if you don’t like a single one of those lollies then I have failed you as a boyfriend” Coralie laughed as she popped a Canary Cream into her mouth, she then offered one to Sirius. “So…Am I good?” Coralie thought for a moment.
“Yeah, you’re good!” Sirius chuckled and kissed the top of Coralie’s head.
“Glad to hear it” Coralie grinned. “Now, where do you want to go from here?” Coralie shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know; take me to your favourite place?” Sirius grinned. “I’m going to regret this aren’t I?” She muttered as Sirius pulled her through Hogsmeade until they reached a shabby old wire fence that overstood a paddock with a single house in the middles.
“That there” Sirius pointed to the house, “Is the Shrieking Shack- most haunted building in all of Britain” Coralie rolled her eyes.
“And how many of your girlfriends have fallen for that little trick of yours?” Sirius looked outraged.
“It’s not a trick Cors, it’s the truth. I’ve heard the howling myself” Coralie sighed and patted Sirius on the back.
“As if sweetie, now come on- We better go meet everyone in The Three Broomsticks” Sirius chuckled, and let himself being pulled away by Coralie.
“I reckon you’re just scared” He muttered to himself, Coralie stopped but didn’t turn around to face him.
“I think you’re just upset that I didn’t get scared and need to hold onto your hand” Sirius fought back a smile and slid his hand into Coralie’s as they entered The Three Broomsticks. “Hey Marlene!” Coralie grinned, leaning down to her hug her friend before she and Sirius took the two empty seats next to James. “Happy Birthday” She passed over her present and card, Marlene smiled and put next to all the other ones she already had.
“Now we’re all here, we can start with our butterbeer!” James cheered and everyone else joined in as they all toasted their glasses in celebration. “Someone give us a speech!” Kiki laughed.
“Okay, okay” She started, standing up. “Sixteen years ago on this very day, Marlene McKinnon was born into this previously ugly world” The table snickered at this. “And so today we thank her mother for making this world beautiful again!” The table burst into laughter and loud claps, Mary stood up and raised her glass of butterbeer high.
“Happy Birthday Marlene” She stated, before taking a large gulp of her butterbeer.
“Happy Birthday Marls!” The group chorused, following Mary in the toast before breaking into fresh fits of laughter.
Authors Note; don’t quiz me on the super speedy updates! I honestly don’t know why I’m updating this quickly, however if you’ve seen my blog on the forums you would know that I’m participating in MayNoWriMo and therefore updates will slow down then but I am writing ahead so I will still have things to post, I promise you that I will.
I put lots of Kiki in because quite a few people have told me that she is their favourite character; and I’m glad for that. I also threw a bit of Miranda in there because I figured she was a bit left out recently and she needed some depth. Eventually every character will have their own little time to shine; I know that Angus’ is coming up very soon!
Leave a review and tell me who you want to see more of. Thanks for reading guys!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Sara Bareilles and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Created the Chapter Image by myself.
I keep remembering the summer night
and the conversation breaking up the mood
I didn't want to tell you, you were right
like the season changing, oh, I felt it too
After another hour of chatting and five rounds of Butterbeer, the group decided to all head back up to Hogwarts together. As Cory and Coralie bought up the rear of the group in silence, they began to smile at their friends actions.
Miranda and Remus were walking hand-in-hand just ahead of them while Sirius and James laughed as they finished off the last of Coralie’s Fizzing Whizzbees- hoovering a few inches off the ground.
“So what are you planning on doing these holidays Cora?” Cory asked, chuckling as James tried to flirt with Lily while hoovering along beside her.
“The holidays are still quite a far way away Cory” Coralie replied, watching Sirius with a smile.
“You think you’ll be spending them with Black?” He asked following his friends eyes, Coralie turned back to look at him.
“There’s that New Year’s Eve Party that James is throwing, so I’ll see him then I suppose- Otherwise I’ll be spending most of the holidays at home, My father’s coming to visit this year so yeah” Coralie smiled softly.
“Your parents aren’t together anymore?” Cory asked, sympathy dripping from his voice. Coralie nodded in response and Cory apologized immediately. “I’m sorry, my aunt and uncle aren’t together anymore either- It’s pretty hard on their one son-my cousin, yeah well obviously he’s my cousin you know since they’re my aunt and uncle. You know what; I’m just going to shut up now” Coralie giggled loudly, causing all their friends to turn around and look at them. Sirius looked tense for a minute before he hovered his way over to Coralie and kissed her full on the lips.
“Hello beautiful” He grinned against her lips, sliding his arm around her waist as he touched back on the ground.
“Hey” She replied, resting her head on his chest.
“What are you two talking about?” He asked, cocking one eyebrow up at Cory over Coralie’s head. Cory sent him a glare back and refrained from punching the git in the face to wipe off his triumphant smile when Coralie kissed his cheek.
“Plans for the holidays” She replied casually, completely unaware of the faces the two boys were making at each other each time she was distracted.
“We’re hanging out right?” Sirius smirked over at Cory.
“Yeah, James’ party right?” She replied, wiping away Sirius’ smirk for a moment but he quickly regained it.
“Yes, for our New Year’s Eve kiss right?” Coralie chuckled and tilted her head back to look up at Sirius who leaned down and planted another kiss on her lips. Cory pursed his lips together but kept up with the couple as the group reached the carriages.
“Potter, you do realise that we aren’t all going to fit in the one carriage?” Lily asked, Coralie was surprised by the tone of civility that she used with James.
“Well, you can sit on my lap” James replied suggestively, Lily rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth together.
“Go shag yourself in a broom closet Potter” She replied angrily, before climbing into the carriage followed by Kiki and Marlene. “Coming Cora?” She asked when the rest of the girls sat waiting in the carriage. Coralie replied with a smile and dropped Sirius’ hand, climbing into the carriage before it took off.
When the carriage was far enough out of distance for the girls to be unable to hear them, Sirius turned to Cory and said, sending him a death glare with his grey eyes. “Stay away from my girl” Before jumping into the next carriage.
When Monday morning rolled around, Coralie found herself wishing that the weekend lasted longer. Despite this, she got dressed into her Gryffindor uniform quickly and was tying up her hair which just wasn’t behaving that day when Alice walked into the bathroom, her dark brown hair sitting perfectly.
“Morning Cora” She grinned, before she picked up her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth- Coralie had noticed on the first morning she spent at Hogwarts that Alice preferred to get ready the muggle way compared to Marlene who used magic every morning.
“Morning” She replied, smiling softly as she pulled her hair through the hair tie- securing it tightly in a ponytail. “Do you want me to wait for you?” Alice nodded, and Coralie left the bathroom and picked up her book bag from beside her trunk, she went to pick up Alice’s too when she noticed a piece of blank parchment lying on her bed. She picked it up and examined it, her eyebrows furrowing with confusion.
“Is that another letter from Leo?” Alice asked worriedly, grabbing her book bag and standing behind Coralie.
“I don’t think so, it’s blank” She replied, Alice reached out and tapped it with her wand- suddenly words appeared and Coralie read them out loud.
“Your eyes are as blue as the daylight sky, and your lips so divine. I hope that you are forever mine”
“That’s so sweet!” Alice gushed as soon as Coralie was finished; Coralie smiled and placed the note in her skirt pocket. “He’s mad about you; he never left Shelena those sorts of things- not that you’re anything like her, you actually have a heart”
“Can you tell me the story of Shelena? I know what she did, but I don’t know anything else about her” Coralie asked, Alice bit down on her lip.
“I’ll try and tell you as much on the way to class?” Coralie nodded in agreement, “Hm, Where to start?”
Alice sat in the second row back in the Divination classroom, beside Mary who was making some weird prediction about a cat and Alice- which made the latter roll her eyes. It wasn’t that Alice found this class a waste of her time and did not take it seriously it was more the fact that Alice knew that she nor Mary was a seer, and in fact she was pretty sure Mary was just making things up off the top of her head.
“How are you two going my dears?” The Divination professor whispered chillingly to the two girls which made Alice force back a shudder. Mary nodded enthusiastically and began to tell the Professor about her weird predication with Alice and this tabby cat that she was apparently seeing in Alice’s tea leaves, the professor nodded along when appropriate- probably excited that a student was actually trying in her class.
The class was suddenly interrupted with a screech that came from the back row, Alice, as well as the rest of the class turned around to see Shelena innocently staring back at the rest of the class, while the Ravenclaw beside her angrily wiping tea leaves off her thickly rimmed glasses.
“Miss Millen! What have you done to your poor partner?” Shelena’s eyes widened innocently, and she ‘stuttered’ a few times before she could form words together.
“Me?” She asked, feigning disbelief in her voice. “I would never do anything to my poor partner, she’s just a little clumsy you see- split the tea leaves all over herself” It was now the Ravenclaw’s turn to be surprised.
“I’m not clumsy!” She screeched, and Alice frowned at her- it was obvious that Shelena had done it, everyone was used to stunts like this from her by now.
“Detention Miss Millen, tonight at 6- here with me”
“Did that happen a lot, Alice?” Coralie asked as they left the Gryffindor Common Room and headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast. Alice nodded.
“She was known for being quite the trouble maker, as well as being a manipulative bitch- She wasn’t the kind of girl you wanted to mess with, if you still valued your social standing at this school. She knew exactly how to make people’s lives hell- she didn’t care who” Alice sighed. “She’d even pull those sorts of stunts on Lily, and worse”
“I bet Lily hated that” Coralie muttered and Alice nodded once more.
“I never understood why Lily would always stick around Shel, I suppose they’d always stuck together- grew up together, you see? The two of them and Severus Snape- from Slytherin”
“I didn’t know they were friends with him, he seems a little dark for Lily”
“Shelena was never fond of him, like the Marauders but Lily knew him, but then he stuffed up and she refuses to speak of him- in fact she refuses to speak of either of them. They both hurt her a lot, and she’s not an easy person to gain trust from” Coralie nodded, and the pair of them fell into silence as they entered the Great Hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor Table.
“Morning Princess Coralie!” James grinned as she slipped in beside Sirius.
“Morning Prince James” She retorted with a smile, beside her Sirius scoffed.
“What are you laughing at Padfoot?” James asked, his eyebrows raising in mock anger at his friend.
“Ignore him James; he’s just jealous that he’s not royalty like us” Coralie rolled her eyes before laughing and kissing Sirius on his cheek.
“As if the two of you would ever be royalty” He replied, chuckling at the hurt look on the two others’ faces.
“Definitely jealous” James stated, wiping the hurt look off his face and starting to eat his toast. Coralie shrugged her shoulders in agreement.
“Definitely”
“And so this morning we will be creating a rather simple Potion to complete if you do the steps correctly, the potion is called ‘Shrinking Solution’. Can anyone tell me three important parts of this Potion, yes Miss Evans?” Professor Slughorn smiled, nodding at his favourite student.
“The daisy roots have to be chopped evenly before they are added, and if you add too many rat spleens or too much leech juice you won’t get the required Potion. Also, it can cause the Potion to become poisonous” At the mention of that, Coralie could feel herself paling- she was going to fail Potions.
“Well done Miss Evans, well done- Thirty points for Gryffindor” Lily smiled proudly at herself, “With what Miss Evans said in mind, you may start your Potions” Slughorn went to sit down before he remembered something, “Due to the happenings of our last class I have organised a seating plan” Coralie could feel the eyes of the class on her, she doubted that they ever forget her last mistake. “Evans and Black, Potter and Soho, Perry and Pettigrew, Prewett and Lupin, Bennett and Barrow…”
“Hello, I’m Sarah Barrow” Coralie looked up to see a tall Ravenclaw staring down at her through her thick rimmed glasses, Coralie smiled up at Sarah as she took the seat next to her.
“Coralie Bennett” She replied, Sarah grinned pushing her honey coloured hair over her shoulder.
“Do you want to start by getting the ingredients?” Sarah asked and Coralie nodded in reply- she was grateful that Sarah seemed to know what she was doing.
Angus took a deep breath in and closed his eyes for a minute, “I can do this” He whispered to himself before letting out a sigh and re-opening his eyes. “I’m Angus Bennett, I can do anything” With another deep breath, he headed towards the Hufflepuff Common Room which James had pointed him in the direction of. Secretly he was desperately hoping that James wasn’t lying.
He smiled to himself as he saw a girl closing a door behind her, so James had told him the truth- Angus mentally thanked him but his face quickly dropped when he realised who the girl was, it was her- it was Azure. His breath caught in his throat as she turned around and noticed him, before he knew it she was standing in front of him.
“Hey Angus” She grinned, and Angus soon found himself grinning too. “What’s up?” The moment of truth, Angus gulped.
“So I was wondering whether you’d like to come home with me for Christmas break? Not the whole time, just a few days? Unless I mean- you can stay as long as you want” He asked nervously, his blue eyes darting in every direction.
“I’d love that!” Azure grinned, her eyes sparkling with delight.
“Awesome! Great, Cool…yeah” She giggled at Angus’ stuttering.
“I should go-I’ll see you around though?” Angus nodded enthusiastically and Azure smiled sweetly at him before turning around and heading back towards her Common Room.
“Yeah, bye” Angus called after her; she sent him a small smile and a wave before disappearing. Angus smiled to himself. “I knew I could do it”
Mère Chérie,
How are you enjoying our new life in London, mère? I’m only kidding, I know how much you dislike it already but please give it a chance- I adore attending Hogwarts, I’ve met so many lovely new friends and a new guy (who, before you ask, is treating me very well). I hope Allisyn, Jacob and Violet are well.
I sent you this letter to let you know that Angus and I will be returning home for Christmas this year, Angus is bringing his friend- Azure back, I think you’ll like her very much. She’s very sweet.
I’ve been invited to a party on New Year’s Eve at one of my new friends’ house, my boyfriend also lives there- I’ll explain to you why when we get home.
Please give our love to everyone,
Coralie and Angus
Authors Note; I’m sorry for the delayed update on this, I haven’t been unable to writing anything lately so nothing’s been updated- I am working on that though quite a few chapters are half-written and just need to be finished off so hopefully I’ll have a few things ready by the time this is validated.
Slightly random and off-topic but I’m guessing all in all this novella should be finished at about 50 chapters- possibly more depending on the length of the chapters. That being said quite a lot of important and lengthy chapters are coming up soon, and I do drop little hints to later plots so pay close attention. Chapter Twenty One should be up in no later than a fortnight.
Quickly before I go and let you all go back to whatever you were doing, I’d like to throw a little shout out to a couple friends of mine who I believe deserve one;
Lizzie, Sarah, Gemma, Nicole, Tyler, Cassie, Laura, Tara, Mel, Danni, Ashleigh and everyone who has stuck around for this ridiculously long Authors Note- Thank you for reading.
(Translation for Mère Chérie is ‘Dear Mother’ while Mère is just ‘mother’)
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Skye Sweetnam and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
So on your good list,
There better be my name,
Or else my Christmas this year,
Just won't be the same.
Chapter image by me.
“Can you cut up those black beetles for me Coralie?” Sarah asked, brushing her honey coloured hair out of her eyes before throwing in an ingredient that Coralie could not identify, nor did she really want to.
“Sure, where are they?” Coralie smiled and Sarah nodded her head over towards the jar of beetles. Coralie carefully unscrewed the lid and tipped out the required number of beetles before slicing them in half and moving them towards the boiling cauldron.
“Awesome, thank you- That’s all the ingredients now” Sarah grinned, quickly stirring the Potion while Coralie watched her- they’d decided in the first lesson they had together that it would be better if Coralie didn’t try to stir the Potion otherwise it would end badly.
“Five more minutes remain class, please collect a vial for me to test and start to pack up your things” Coralie pulled out a little vial and passed it to Sarah who poured in the potion before handing it to Professor Slughorn who was darting between the tables. “Thank you Miss Barrow and Miss Bennett, it looks almost perfect”
“Thank you professor” Sarah replied politely as both girls began to pack up. “Are you eating lunch with your Gryffindors friends today?” Coralie shook her head.
“I think the boys are playing Quidditch or something, or so James said at breakfast and the girls will probably be studying or off gossiping somewhere so I was kind of hoping I could sit with you?” Sarah nodded enthusiastically.
“Sure you can! My Ravenclaw friends will love you” Sarah grinned from ear to ear and Coralie smiled back. Sarah pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and grabbed her book bag. “You ready then?” Coralie nodded and followed Sarah out of the room, turning back to send a small wave to Sirius. “You’ll get to meet Tyler today- He’s my best friend”
“Oh, cool” Coralie grinned as they entered the Great Hall, The pair of them walked towards the Ravenclaw table where Coralie noticed a brown haired boy jumping up and down on the spot and waving to Sarah.
“Dear Merlin” Sarah whispered and Coralie chuckled.
“That’s Tyler then I take it?” Sarah nodded.
“Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Over here!” He called, still waving madly at the two girls- Sarah scrunched her nose slightly and glanced over at Coralie who bit down on her bottom lip before they approached him. “They have ham sandwiches today, sandwiches!” He repeated, Sarah nodded and sat down before patting the spot next to her which Coralie took.
“Tyler, this is my new Potions partner- Coralie” Sarah smiled and Tyler stared at Coralie before putting his hand out.
“Nice to meet you Coralie, I’m Tyler!” Coralie smiled and shook his hand before the three of them began to eat. Looking up from her food for a minute she saw Kiki walking over to them, she smiled and waved slightly as Kiki squished in between Coralie and another Ravenclaw.
“What’s up?” Kiki grinned, reaching over the table and taking a sandwich off Tyler’s plate and taking a big bite before putting it back on his plate. “That’s actually a really good sandwich!” She exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.
“It was” Tyler said solemnly, staring down at the remains of the sandwich before shrugging his shoulders and finishing it off.
“Gross” Sarah whispered, staring at her best friend with worried eyes. Kiki grinned and stood up from the table.
“Cya little people!” Kiki called back as she walked off, Coralie turned to face Sarah with a puzzled look and Sarah stared back at her.
“She called us little people!” Coralie said outraged and Sarah chuckled.
“That’s so Kiki” She rolled her eyes, both girls turned their attention as Tyler began to speak.
“Christmas is a time to play, To jump, to dance, to hide, I'll never forget that cold Christmas day, My mum locked me outside, The snow was cold, So cold it burned, Cold as hell itself, The red hat of Santa Claus, The devil laughing himself, The snow was cold and killing me, I clutch my toy so quiet, I give one last desperate scream, And then the street falls quiet” Coralie stared worriedly at him while Sarah pushed his shoulder away.
“Ignore him”
“Done” Coralie muttered, staring at the boy in question with worried eyes.
“How was lunch with the Ravenclaw’s?” Lily asked and Coralie joined her in Charms class.
“It was good, how was studying?” Coralie replied with a smile, Lily smiled back.
“It was good” Both girls fell into silence as they pulled their Charms books and wands out of their bags and waited for Professor Flitwick to finish writing something on the board.
“Good morning class, if you could all please copy down what is on the board we can start our lesson- today will be mainly a theory lesson, if we have time at the end we’ll try a few new spells we will learn about on page 120 in your textbooks” Both Coralie and Lily began to scribble down the notes on the board.
“You met Tyler Angelo then?” Lily asked quietly and Coralie nodded. “Completely bonkers isn’t he? He was my partner in Potions last year” Coralie chuckled.
“He’s beyond insane” Both girls giggled softly. “Did he tell you a poem when you first met him?” Lily nodded.
“His poems are depressing, but hilarious at the same time” Coralie nodded in agreement and they fell silent again before something landed in between the two girls, Coralie flipped around and saw Sirius grinning at her, mouthing for her to read the note. She turned back and unfolded the note.
Hey beautiful.
Coralie smiled and turned back to Sirius, she then turned back to the piece of parchment and scribbled something back down;
You should really being paying attention.
She then levitated it over to Sirius who smirked down at it before writing something down and sending it back to her.
You’re starting to sound like Evans, besides I’ll get all my notes off Remus later.
That’s not fair.
Meh, he doesn’t mind.
Coralie shook her head, she knew very well that Remus did in fact mind but decided to ignore Sirius’ notes and returned to paying attention to Flitwick as the class came to an end.
“Homework for this week is a foot long essay on the Charms we learnt today, due next lesson- You may go” Flitwick squeaked as the class began to pack up their things and leave the classroom. Once on the outside of the classroom Coralie waited for Sirius who turned up only a few seconds later, he slid his hand into hers and led her down the corridors.
“Why’d you stop replying?” He asked casually and Coralie grinned.
“I was trying to learn Sirius” She joked, before his arm slightly. He grinned down at her and placed a small kiss on her forehead.
“You doing anything this weekend beautiful?” He asked and Coralie shook her head. “Good then, we can go to the last Hogsmeade trip before the holidays together then?” Coralie smiled. “Anyway, I’ve got to go now- Remus’ is returning home to see his sick mother and the guys and I always help him with that” Coralie nodded as Sirius slipped his hand out of hers before leaning down and placing a sweet kiss on his lips, she smiled into it before they broke apart and Sirius hurried down the corridor leaving Coralie by herself. She smiled and headed off in the direction of the Common Room.
“Hey Cors” Miranda grinned when she entered the dormitory; she noticed that all the girls were sitting on their beds all doing their own little tasks. Lily was of course studying- Coralie wondered whether she’d run up her from the Charms room, Alice was painting her nails a bright red colour and the rest of the girls were flipping through magazines and gossiping to each other.
“Hey” She smiled back, slipping over her Mary Jane’s and collapsing back into her bed.
“Tired, Cora?” Kiki teased, as she sat next to Coralie on her bed. Coralie nodded, and Kiki chuckled “Good thing, it’s almost holidays then”
“Yeah, where is everyone for these holidays?” Marlene asked, closing her newest copy of Witch Weekly.
“I think everyone’s going home aren’t they?” Alice asked and all the girls made noises of agreement. “Are we all going to the Potter’s New Years Eve Party?” She then asked.
“Yeah, we’re all invited” Kiki replied, the grin not wiping from her face.
“Are you going Lils?” Coralie asked and Lily shrugged her shoulders casually.
“I’m not sure- If I do I’m going to try my hardest not to bump into Potter to often” The other girls chuckled.
“One day, I swear Miss Evans you’ll warm up to him” Alice grinned and all the other girls nodded in agreement.
“I highly doubt that Alice, but I applaud you for your optimism” Lily teased back and Alice chuckled.
“Mark her words Lils, you’ll be with Potter by the end of seventh year” Miranda added.
That weekend Coralie woke up nice and early and made her way to the bathroom before any of the other girls, she’d been out for a while before Mary (who was always the first one up) even started to awake.
“You’re up remarkably early” Mary exclaimed when she Coralie drying her hair with her hand, Coralie nodded.
“I’ve got a date with Sirius today, and I was a little too excited to sleep” Mary grinned before she made her way to the bathroom and left Coralie in peace to get dressed into a simple red mini skirt and a plain white sweater before heading downstairs and then to the Great Hall.
“Mornin’ love” Sirius grinned when he joined her for breakfast fifteen minutes later. “You look beautiful today” He kissed her cheek and began to eat some breakfast while they waited for the rest of their friends to join them. After half an hour Coralie and Sirius left the Great Hall and headed towards the carriages, laughing and smiling as they did so.
“Where are we going today?” Coralie asked and Sirius smirked.
“I’ve got the perfect little place” Coralie raised her eyebrows but followed Sirius into their carriage. Once they arrived in Hogsmeade they walked around for a while before Coralie set eyes on a little jewellery store. “I’m just going to get presents for the other Marauders; do you want to wait here?” Coralie nodded, as her eyes skimmed a beautiful silver necklace with a small ruby hanging in the centre- It was beautiful, something she could imagine Violet wearing and so she looked around for the clerk- as if on cue a young women popped out from the back of the counter.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” She asked, and Coralie nodded.
“Could I please buy it?” The women nodded and pulled out the necklace before grabbing out a little box and set it in there, Coralie handed over the correct about of money and took the bag from the women before leaving the shop and looking around the snow covered street for Sirius.
“What’d you buy?” He asked as his came towards her with a couple of bags in his arms.
“A present for my older sister” Coralie smiled down at the bag and laced her fingers with Sirius’.
“You ready to head back then?”
“Have you seen my black stockings?” Kiki called across the messy dormitory.
“Aren’t they already in your trunk?” Lily replied, as she tried to close her overflowing trunk.
“Are these them?” Miranda asked, holding up a pair of overstretched stockings and Kiki nodded- Miranda threw them over to her.
“Thanks!” She called, stuffing a few more things into her trunk. It was the night before everyone was to head home for the Christmas break and quite stupidly on their part the girls had left their packing until the last minute.
“Has anyone seen my tie?” Coralie asked, running her fingers through her curly hair.
“You’ve already packed it Cors” Alice replied and Coralie frowned before shrugging her shoulders and clearing everything off her bed.
“Can someone help me get my trunk closed?” Mary called across the room angrily; Coralie smiled and went over to help her. “Maybe if you sit on it Cors, then I’ll be able to close it” Coralie grinned and sat down on Mary’s trunk while she tried to close it, after a few unsuccessful tries it finally worked and Coralie went back to packing her own trunk.
“Okay, is everyone done now?” Lily asked after a few minutes of curses and sighs had echoed the room. Everyone nodded and Lily smiled. “The boys have presents for us apparently” The girls all smiled and stumbled down to the common room, with their presents for the boys in their own hands, where all five boys sat in silence. Miranda moved straight to Remus who was looking worse for wear after his visit to his sick mother and sat next to him.
“Present time!” James yelled, and presents were passed around in all directions. Lily was the first one to open a present from Remus, a book about Potions- she smiled and then it was Kiki’s time. It moved quickly, Kiki had received a box of chocolates from Peter, Miranda- a photo frame from Coralie that enclosed a picture of all the girls. Finally it came around to Sirius’ present to Coralie and she was passed a messily wrapped present with bright blue wrapping paper covered in snowmen.
Coralie quickly unwrapped the paper, smiling down at the little snowmen. With a final tug, her present fell out and she looked down at it with uncertain eyes. It was some sort of frisbee, she’d gathered that- but it almost looked like there were fangs around the edge.
“Do you like it Cors?” Coralie looked up at Sirius and smiled, despite her uncertainty.
“It’s lovely, thank you Sirius” She quickly kissed him on the cheek before placing the present down and smiling around at the group- Alice shot her a look of sympathy.
“My present now!” Cory said lightening the mood and handed Coralie a small gist wrapped in plain red paper. She politely pulled off the wrapping paper and smiled at the little box that now rest in her hands.
Out of the simple blue box, Coralie pulled out a silver bracelet with little charms on it. She smiled at it, and looked at it closely- letting each one of the charms slip through her fingertips.
The first one was a little Eiffel Tower with a tiny French flag on the top, the next one was a little train, and the next was Hogwarts, right beside a red and gold charm for Gryffindor. The fifth charm was a silver telescope, then a kissing couple and lastly a little silver envelope.
“This is lovely Cory” She whispered, putting her wrist out for Sirius to do up, he sourly did so and turned his attention to his present which lay at Coralie’s feet.
“It gets better” Cory mused, Sirius fought back the sarcastic remark he was desperate to say and instead watched Coralie stick out the wrist with her brand new bracelet on as Cory pulled out his wand and tapped the bracelet three times. Coralie gasped with delight as the little charms began to twirl around. “It sort of like a timeline of your year so far, the telescope is for the Astronomy Tower and the couple is you and Sirius” Coralie smiled at this and looked back at Sirius to see him glaring at Cory, she frowned and quietly thanked Cory so they could move onto the next present.
Author’s Note; This chapter is dedicated to my friend Keziah who basically annoyed me every day at school until I finished this chapter, and I love her for that otherwise I probably would have never gotten this finished.
Also the poem included in there was written by my friend Tyler, so if you have anything against that then review and I’ll make sure to tell him!
And I don’t really have much to say other than I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Coralie quickly glanced behind her as she climbed into the carriage, she’d only been there a couple of months and Hogwarts was already becoming like a second home to her but nonetheless she was still excited to be going home to her family even if it meant going to her mother’s mediocre cooking- She figured she could survive if she pretended it was really Hogwarts food. Just in case this didn’t work she’d made sure to fill up herself up with as much of the food as she possible could prior to leaving that morning.
Tearing her eyes away from the lake and the surroundings she’d become so familiar with, she looked back at her new friends- as much as she adored them she was almost happy to have a break away from them for a little while, she missed her old friends who knew her before everything happened with Leo, before she changed- back when she was just Coralie. Nothing spectacular, just Coralie.
“You alright there Cors?” Miranda asked, as she slid into the compartment being the last of girls. She shoved her trunk above their heads and took the seat on the very end of the opposite side of Coralie.
“Yeah, just thinking about how much I’m going to miss this place the next week and a bit” Kiki chuckled beside Coralie and bought her into a side hug.
“It’s okay ickle Corsy, we’ll be back before you know it” Coralie scoffed in mock anger and pushed away Kiki who pretended to be hurt.
“Aw, how can you refuse a face like that?” Alice cooed and Kiki stuck her tongue out at her. “On second thoughts” She joked.
“You guys are so mean to me!” Kiki pretended to wipe tears from her eyes which caused the whole compartment to chuckle.
“Just threaten them with some eyeliner and they’ll stop” Lily added and Coralie rolled her eyes at her friend.
“We’re Gryffindors sweetie, we don’t scare easily” Miranda cheered as Coralie said this, causing everyone to raise their eyebrows at her.
“She’s officially a Gryffindor!” Coralie furrowed her eyebrows together.
“I thought that was decided at the sorting?” She asked and Marlene nodded in agreement, Miranda rolled her eyes.
“That’s silly” Lily scoffed and the compartment fell into a comfortable silence for a moment before Mary piped up.
“I thought she was always a Gryffindor?” She asked, twirling a bit of her blonde hair around her finger. At this comment the compartment burst into a fresh round of laughter.
“So Moony, Padfoot, where are the girls?” James asked as the Marauders took their seats in their usual compartment- it was always empty and everyone in Hogwarts knew that you did not even try to sit in there- who knows when the Marauders would hit you with their pranks as payback?
“With the others I suppose” Remus answered, placing his book down- he didn’t know why he even bothered to try to read it. “Miranda said it’s a tradition that they all sit together at Christmas or something”
“Shelena never followed that tradition” Peter commented and was instantly shot a death glare by James. It was an unwritten Marauder rule that they didn’t mention Shelena in the company of Sirius. Peter never saw what the big deal was about it; Sirius had Coralie now so why would he care about Shelena? “Maybe it’s new or something?” He added afterwards.
“Then it wouldn’t be a tradition Wormtail” Sirius replied casually, rolling his eyes at his friend. Peter mentally sighed, he was only trying to relieve the tension in the compartment but if he’d known that Sirius was in one of those moods again he wouldn’t have bothered. Sometimes he wondered how Shelena and now Coralie had put up with Sirius’ constant mood changes, they annoyed him to all hell. “I’m going to go find Coralie” Sirius said suddenly and stood up, before any of the other boys had a chance to reply he was already out of the compartment and down the corridor.
“What’s up with him?” James asked, taking the snitch he’d ‘borrowed’ out of his pocket and began to throw it up in the air.
“It’s Christmas James, you know how he gets” Remus answered, picking up his book again as the compartment fell into a thoughtful silence.
Sometime later Sirius re-entered the compartment silently and took his seat again, Peter could tell his face was screwed up in anger behind the curtain of black hair- James however did not.
“Hey Padfoot, nice little snog break?” He asked jokingly, catching the snitch easily in his right hand despite the fact he wasn’t even paying attention- Peter hated how he could do this, especially since he barely had any hand-eye coordination himself. Sirius gritted his teeth together.
“She was otherwise busy” He muttered and James almost dropped the snitch.
“What?” He asked.
“She was busy with Noble, laughing about something” Remus rolled his eyes and dropped his book.
“And you couldn’t steal her away because?” James asked like it was the most basic thing in the world.
“You don’t get it Prongs, She’s sick of me now- and she’s moving on to Noble” Remus scoffed.
“Padfoot just because she’s laughing about something with Cory doesn’t mean she’s sick of you. There are such things as being friends with people” Sirius shook his head and went to say something but Remus cut him off. “I consider myself a friend of Coralie but you don’t feel threatened by me do you?” Sirius regrettably shook his head and muttered a ‘no’. “Then it’s settled, you’re being stupid” Peter had to fight back a laugh- he loved how Remus could say something like that to either James or Sirius and not get hexed, it made him wish that he could do it too but he didn’t have the courage.
“We’re here!” Mary called as the train pulled to a stop at Platform 9 ¾.
“Thank you captain obvious” Kiki chuckled, and pulled her trunk off the top and left the compartment the other girls following her in a single row as they tried to get to the exit. After a few minutes struggle the girls finally reached the door and stepped out onto the Platform.
“I see my parents now, I’ve got go” Marlene said and the girls all put down their trunks and took their turns to hug their friend goodbye. “See you at James’” She called as she headed off towards her parents. The other girls continued to look around the Platform for their parents- Alice was the next to go followed by Mary, Miranda which left Coralie, Kiki and Lily who made their way through the barrier as Lily’s parents had to meet her on the other side.
“I bet Petunia’s held up my parents on purpose or something” Lily muttered under her breath and Coralie chuckled at the mention of Lily’s horrible older sister. The stories she’d heard of Petunia made some of things Violet did seem angelic. “Oh, there they are now” She whispered, walking towards a middle aged couple and a girl who looked in her early twenties- Coralie figured the girl was Petunia.
“Bye Lil, see you at James’” Coralie smiled, hugging Lily close to her before she walked away with her parents.
“And then there were two” Kiki said dramatically, dropping her trunk to the floor and sitting on top of it.
“Four actually” Came James’ voice as he and Sirius broke through the barrier; Coralie smiled at her boyfriend and gave him a hug. “You girls ready for my party?” Kiki cheered enthusiastically before standing up and picking up her trunk.
“Wish me luck” She whispered and she and Coralie hugged quickly.
“Good luck, see you at the party” Coralie responded, quickly checking around the station for sight of anyone from her family. “Have either of you seen Angus or Azure?” She asked the two boys who both shook their heads, she let out a sigh.
“Probably snogging somewhere” James commented and Coralie rolled her eyes.
“Here he is” She whispered to herself as her brother came through the barrier, Azure following closely behind him. “Hey guys” She smiled, her brother nodded in response.
“Where’s Jacob?” He asked, and Coralie shrugged her shoulders- smiling over at Azure who smiled back.
“Speak of the devil” Coralie muttered as Jacob appeared within the crowd of the station, he noticed them almost instantly and quickened his pace.
“Hey, sorry I’m late- Violet” Both Coralie and Angus rolled their eyes at the mention of their older sister, they knew how demanding she could be. “She’s in the car by the way, Mum made her come” Angus let out a soft groan which caused Azure to giggle.
“Let’s go then” Angus sighed, picking up his trunk and pet toad. Azure followed him which left Coralie to say goodbye to the two boys, she gave James a quick hug and placed a soft kiss on Sirius’ lips.
“Miss you already” She whispered as she followed after her two brothers.
“Good year so far Cora?” Jacob asked, falling into step with her.
“You have no idea” She whispered in reply.
Authors Note; This chapter is once again dedicated to my friend Keziah who is so amazing and supportive to the point where she actually printed out the last chapter and bought it to school during exam week so she could read it in her breaks and show it to our friends- so thank you Keziah! Look out for Chapter Twenty Three in a few weeks times, Thank you for reading!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Sleeping With Sirens and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
There's so many things that I could say
But I'm sure it would come out all wrong
You've got something that I can't explain
Chapter Image by Broomsticks of TDA.
The following morning Coralie woke up to the unfamiliar sounds of birds chirping outside her window, she happily opened her eyes and stared up at the plain white roof with a smile plastered on her lips. She loved being home, the smell of the house, the warmth and the sounds of her brother gently strumming on his guitar in the room next to hers. She rolled onto her side, her face now covered by a curtain of her blonde locks before slipping her legs out for underneath her warm covers and placing her feet on the ground.
Slowly she stood up and walked over to her wardrobe, swinging the doors open she pulled out some clothes for the day before slipping out of her pyjamas and into her skirt and top. She quickly made her bed and threw her pyjamas underneath her pillow before leaving her bedroom to head down for breakfast.
“Morning” Coralie smiled and kissed her mother’s cheek before sliding into the empty chair next to Violet whom muttered something in French under her breath. Coralie rolled her eyes at this- Violet had never been much of a morning person in fact Coralie could not fathom why her sister was even downstairs at that time in the morning but she knew better than to ask.
“What’s everyone up to today?” Marcelle asked, breaking the silence that was a rarity at any time with the Bennett family.
“Azure and I figured we’d walk around town a little today” Angus replied casually as he tore into his peanut butter toast- next to him Azure blushed slightly but was quick to hide it with her hair. Coralie could almost see the hole burning on the side of Azure’s head from Violet’s piercing glare- she wasn’t quite sure why her sister was acting so odd and so she brushed it off that Violet was just become a little protective of Angus.
“I was going to meet up with Lily- you know, my new friend? In London, do a bit of shopping” Coralie replied after a few minutes in silence again and Marcelle smiled.
“That sounds wonderful Cora, don’t forget to find a dress for your father’s ball” Coralie nodded- February the second was her father’s birthday and his annual ball which Coralie’s grandmother had set up years ago. Ever since she was little she’d been attending these balls for her father- it was only way she ever got to see him anymore and so there was no way she was going to pass up that opportunity.
An hour or so later Coralie sat in the Leaky Cauldron as she waited for Lily to arrive. She was actually quite surprised as to how busy the little pub was for so early in the day- she figured it was the entrance to Diagon Alley and all but still. Her thoughts trailed off and she continued to contently sip the butterbeer she’d ordered a few minutes ago.
The door swung open and a puffing Lily Evans appeared in the doorway, she looked around the old bar for a second before she noticed Coralie and walked over to her. “Oh Merlin, I’m so sorry I’m so late- Dad wanted to drive me here but he got lost so I ended up having to walk have way here. God that was a workout and a half” She smiled softly before slumping into the seat beside Coralie who smiled back and chuckled at her friend’s appearance.
“Do you wanna hang here for a few minutes while you catch your breath?” Lily nodded in agreement, some of her fiery hair escaping the tight bow it was tied in. As Lily caught her breath, Coralie ordered a butterbeer for her and the pair of them fell into content silence, both taking small sips of their butterbeer every now and again.
“How are your holidays so far?” Lily asked after a few minutes, Coralie placed down her butterbeer and smiled.
“The few hours have been good” Coralie chuckled and Lily quickly joined in. “How about yours? Any letters from James yet?” Lily sighed.
“Not yet, Thank Merlin” Coralie grinned in response. “What about you, lover boy sent you anything yet?” Coralie shook her head, she didn’t expect to hear much from Sirius these holidays as she knew he was with James and they were most likely getting into trouble of some kind before James’ party. “Anything you look for today then?” Lily asked taking the last sip of her butterbeer and standing up, wrapping her purple scarf around her neck tighter.
“My dad’s birthday soiree is coming up in a few days, I need a dress for it” Lily grinned and Coralie almost regretted mentioning it.
“Luckily for you, Mum has taken me to almost every dress shop in London so I’m sure we’ll find something” Coralie smiled and followed Lily out of the warm Leaky Cauldron and into the bustling streets of London. “I think this is the best one for you” Lily said pulling Coralie into a big department store that Coralie didn’t have time to catch the name of. She soon found herself surrounded by rows upon rows of all sorts of dresses; finally she set her eyes on the ball dresses and walked over to those. “That one’s gorgeous Cora” Lily commented as Coralie pulled out a floor length red gown, she smiled at the gown but put it back on the racks and continued to rummage through.
After a while of searching Coralie finally found one she liked, it was a simple floor length pale yellow dress with little details on the top half. “I think this is the one Lil” Coralie whispered as Lily appeared next to her.
“It’s beautiful” Lily responded whole heartedly and so Coralie paid for it with the muggle money her mother had given her before she and Lily left the store in high spirits. A few hours later the pair collapsed on a park bench near where Lily’s dad was picking her up, they’d been walking around non-stop for at least two hours now and they were both completely exhausted.
“When’s your dad picking you up?” Coralie asked and Lily checked her watch.
“Any minute now” Coralie nodded and leant back into the bench, “In fact that’s him now” Both Coralie and Lily stood up as a little white car stopped in front of them. “Hey dad” Lily smiled as the window was rolled down, Coralie smiled at the balding man behind the wheel.
“You must be Coralie” He said and Coralie replied with a nod and a smile. “How are you getting home?”
“I’m flooing” Coralie responded, hoping that Lily had explained the floo network to her dad- she apparently had as he nodded in reply.
“Alright then Cora, I’ll see you on New Year’s Eve then” Coralie nodded and quickly hugged her friend before sending Lily’s dad a polite wave and headed back into the Leaky Cauldron- where she flooed home.
Marcelle took another sip of her mug of tea and sighed, leaning back in the kitchen chair. There was something wrong in the family that no one was telling her and she deeply disliked the feeling. Was there something wrong with Allisyn? She doubted it as she knew that Allisyn was a strong and stubborn girl-it was the main reason that she’d survived when Celestin had passed away and left Allisyn to take care of little Haley.
Marcelle knew without a doubt that there was nothing wrong with Jacob, he was just like his father- too proud to ever admit there was something wrong and luckily from him Angus also had developed this trait. That meant Violet and Coralie were left. The two apples of Marcelle’s eyes, her two beautiful younger daughters, the ones that caused Marcelle the most amount of pain whenever tears came to either of their sparkling blue eyes. They were both so alike, both in looks and personality although Violet always hid that side of her. Coralie was the younger one, the more daring one who wasn’t afraid to put her heart on the line while Violet kept her heart guarded with wire fences that she never let anyone break through. She could remember the old days when the two of them had been as thick as thieves.
The sun was shining down into the De Luca’s summer cottage where Marcelle had spent most of her childhood summers and now wanted to share that experience with her children, all five of them. Currently they were playing some sort of game that Marcelle could not quite follow, Allisyn- the eldest as she’d just turned eleven was barking some sort of orders to her young brother Jacob who was turning nine the next month. Marcelle had always found Allisyn bossiness entertaining and found herself laughing as her two younger girls Violet and Coralie, who were six and three respectively, started to ignore their older sister.
Violet and Coralie began to run down the path hand in hand with Allisyn following closely behind them screaming at them to come back. Marcelle chuckled again and looked down at baby Angus in her arms; she kissed him on the nose and continued to watch her little girls.
A loud knock on the door interrupted Marcelle’s train of thought, she closed her eyes for a second and put her tea down on the coffee table before she walked over to the door and undid the multiple locks Jacob had installed when they’d arrived. Marcelle thought it was somewhat pointless, a wizard could simple cast Alohomora and the locks would not do anything but Jacob persisted that they would buy them some extra time in an emergency. Finally she undid the last lock and swung the door open to see a tall women standing there, she smiled at Marcelle.
“I’m Maria Simons, Azure’s mother” Marcelle nodded and pulled the door open for her.
“I’m Marcelle Bennett” She responded as Mrs Simons stepped through the door, she looked at everything in the entrance hall before turning back to Marcelle.
“You have a lovely home” Marcelle smiled and softly whispered a thank you before calling out to Azure.
“Azure, your mother’s here” The sound of moving feet and a trunk being dropped onto the floor came from the floor above and Marcelle rolled her eyes at what she presumed was her son .
“Thank you for having me Mrs Bennett” She smiled softly, and Marcelle returned the smile without hesitation.
“It was no problem Azure, thank you for staying” Mrs Simons then smiled and ushered her daughter out of the house as Azure waved back at the Bennett family who all stood watching her in the doorway. As the car disappeared down the road Marcelle turned to Angus. “She’s a keeper that you Angus, well done” Angus could barely contain the wide smile that spread across his face.
Dear Coralie,
Merry Christmas! I hope you’re having wonderful holidays so far and I can’t wait to see you at James’ party, Do you have your outfit ready? I’m still tossing up between a dress or some jean- I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I’ve been having a lovely time so far, I caught up with my boyfriend Frank- he’s training to be an Auror and so we don’t get to meet up very often and so that definitely made my holidays! Have you seen Sirius yet?
Merry Christmas again,
xoxo
Alice
Coralie smiled down at the letter from Alice and placed it down on her bed before picking up the next letter and ripping it open. It was from Sarah;
Coralie,
This is Sarah here, in case you can’t tell- How are you? And Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, are you enjoying your holidays so far? I certainly am, I’m actually in France right now- and it’s magical in the snow, although I’m sure you know that! Anyway, I found this book in Paris and I figured you’d like it.
Thank you for being my Potions partner these past few weeks, it’s been a blast.
Sarah.
Coralie chuckled and opened the parcel that was wrapped tightly, a thick book fell onto her lap entitled ‘Easy Potions for everyone’- she quickly flipped through the book and laughed at the little note Sarah had inscribed inside for her. ‘Maybe if you finish this book you won’t turn someone’s hair blue again’. She put the book aside as she continued to read through her pile of letters, the mainly said the same things- wished her a Merry Christmas, and that they couldn’t wait to see her on New Year’s Eve. She’d received a letter from everyone but Sirius, even James had taken the time to write. As much as this unnerved Coralie she brushed it quickly to the back of her mind and threw her dressing gown on.
She opened her bedroom and walked down the empty corridor and down the stairs into the living room where her mother was sitting staring at the picture of her and Violet when they were only tiny. It’d been raining that day and so the streets where slightly flooded- she and Violet had run across the ground in their little dresses, the bottom of Violet’s princess style one getting damp. Marcelle asks them to turn around for a picture and so they do, hugging each other tightly- Coralie standing on her tip toes to reach Violet’s height and then the picture replays.
“Mum, you alright?”
“Hm?” Marcelle responded and shakes the thought out of her head. “Yeah, I’m fine” She whispers and disappears into the kitchen to start making food for when the rest of the family arrives. Coralie could tell something wasn’t right but she figured her mother wasn’t likely to tell her what.
“Morning Cora, Merry Christmas” Angus smiled walking over to his sister and give her a tight hug, although he was a few inches shorter than her- he lifted her feet off the floor and spun her around a little before plopping her back on the floor.
“Merry Christmas Angus” She chuckled, pushing her worries about her mother to the back of her mind.
“You planning on getting dressed anytime soon Cors?” Violet appeared at the bottom of the stairs and Coralie poked her tongue out in response- Violet pretended to be outraged before she burst into fits of giggles. “You never grow up do you?” Violet commented jokingly before disappearing into the kitchen, Angus chuckled slightly.
“Oh shut up Angus” She pushed her little brother away before climbing up the stairs and changing into the red dress her mother had bought for her while she was away at Hogwarts. She stared at herself in the mirror for a second before pulling all her hair to the one side and leaving her room.
“Cora, can you please get the presents out of my closet before you cousins get here? You help too Angus!” Marcelle called from the kitchen and Coralie turned to smile at Angus- it had always been there job to get out the presents on Christmas Day and set them around the tree, when they were younger they loved doing it as their job because it meant they got time to try and guess what was wrapped up in the Christmas paper before anyone else.
“What do you reckon we’ll get this year?” Angus asked and Cora shrugged her shoulders.
“I imagine Grand-mere and Grand-pere have bought us books for Hogwarts, you know how clueless they are when it goes to buying stuff for us” Angus chuckled and nodded in agreement as they began to pull the three massive bags worth of presents down the stairs from their mother’s room. As they reached the decorated tree they began to pull presents out of the bag one by one and place them around the bottom of the tree.
“I think their hear mum” Angus called after a few minutes following a soft knock at the door.
“Can you one of you get it?” Marcelle replied and Coralie nodded at her brother before walking over to the door and swinging it open.
“Bonjour Coralie” Coralie smiled at her Aunt Agnes and kissed both of her cheeks before doing the same to her Uncle Franc.
“Hey little one” Cora’s eldest cousin, Roland Depaul, exclaimed- ruffling Coralie’s curly hair before moving inside to greet Angus, Violet and Jacob- who had only just finished setting the table.
“How’s it going Cor?” Thomas- the next eldest in the Depaul family asked as he followed his brother.
“Hey sweetie” The only daughter in the family- Rhiannon, smiled and placed a soft kiss on Coralie’s cheek before doing the same to Violet. Last of all, Cora’s favourite and youngest cousin Jerome was left.
“Hey Jer” Jerome smiled at Coralie and hugged her tightly, responding with a quiet ‘Hello’. Jerome was a little quieter than the rest of the Depaul family and he was also the youngest.
“Who’s ready for some lunch?” Marcelle called from the kitchen and Coralie sighed a little when she noticed that smoke was escaping from the kitchen- that was not a good sign.
Authors Note; This if officially the second longest chapter so far- well probably until the next one because let me warn you now, that’s a long one and a lot of exciting stuff happens.
Few notes about this chapter, I really wanted to give Marcelle (who is Coralie’s mother in case you’re confused) a little bit more depth to her character and also to Violet (hence the little flashback there) both women will become extremely important characters very soon.
Secondly, A few people have been asking about the ages of the Bennett kids so I’ll just clear them up for you now- Allisyn in 25 and her daughter- Haley is four years old. Jacob is the next eldest at 23, then Violet who is 19 (this is why she’s not attending Hogwarts), then Coralie at 16 and finally Angus at 14. If there’s anything else that you need clarified don’t be scared to ask below- I always responded to reviews within the week at least.
Finally, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I’ll see you after the staff break for chapter twenty four- be ready for some action guys!
Disclaimer; The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Adele and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
The amazing chapter image above was made by Broomsticks of TDA.
After a few minutes, a knock at the door disturbed the silence of the table- Coralie was grateful for this as she was sure everyone else was as they’d all just been sitting there for ten minutes or so. She was unsure as to whether they were waiting for her dad and sister or whether everyone was waiting for the roast beef to look appetising, if it was the latter she figured they’d be sitting there for the rest of their lives.
Tearing her eyes away from the roast beef that was only now cooling down after being on fire for the first five minutes, she looked up to the door to see her father followed closely by Allisyn and Haley. Coralie stood up and greeted her father with a small hug and a polite kiss on his cheek before moving to Allisyn who gripped her tightly.
“Merry Christmas little sis” She whispered before moving down the table, Coralie bent down to her niece’s height.
“Hello Haley, how are you?” Coralie grinned, hugging her little niece tightly who responded with just as much gusto.
“I’m good Cor Cor!” Haley replied with her voice as sweet as sugar, Coralie chuckled at the nickname the little girl had given to her the Christmas before as she placed her little niece in the seat beside her.
“Now that everyone’s here we can start eating” Marcelle grinned, sitting back down and digging into her meal while the rest of the table watched her before looking down at their food before slowly, one by one, picking up their knives and forks and beginning to eat.
“What is this?” Haley leant over to whisper in Coralie’s ear as she stared down at the disaster in front of her.
“Uh…Roast beef” Coralie replied, watching her little niece scrunch up her nose in disgust.
“Are you sure?” She added and Coralie nodded, fighting back a chuckle. “Did Grandmama cook?” Coralie nodded again and Haley sighed, picking up her knife and fork and beginning to try and cut through the meat. After a few minutes, she sighed with defeat and placed her knife and fork back down on the table. “Never again Cor Cor” All Coralie could do was laugh in response.
“So, Coralie, Angus- how do you enjoy your new school?” Uncle Franc asked in a clear attempt to avoid eating what was in front of him which both Angus and Coralie jumped at the escape.
“Oh, it’s wonderful” Coralie exclaimed, placing her cutlery down- her mother had always told her it was rude to eat with a knife or fork in your hands.
“Yeah, it’s amazing.” Angus added, pausing before he added more. “We both really enjoy it there and have made heaps of new friends” Coralie nodded in agreement.
“Oh, that’s great!” Their aunt added a fake smile plastering on her face- though Coralie knew her Aunt Agnes really did care she couldn’t blame her.
“Better than St. Mary’s?” Rhiannon asked, flipping some of her jet black hair over her shoulder. Sometimes Coralie could hardly believe the similarities between Rhiannon and Kiki- both were insanely beautiful with their long jet black hair and their bubbly personalities.
“Yeah, totally” Angus replied, reaching his hand up to mess up his hair before letting in fall back into his lap.
“Angus made a new little friend, didn’t you Ang?” Jacob teased, his brown eyes twinkling with excitement. “Had her over this week” Angus blushed a deep shade of red before he looked down at his food, Rhiannon whacked Jacob on the back of his head.
“Shut it Jake” She growled, her brown eyes flashing with anger. Rhiannon- being a year old than Jacob- and being a girl, was the more mature one out of the two (and according to Jacob the more violent one) and therefore felt the need to always protect her younger cousins from Jacob.
“Cora’s got a boyfriend too” He added before being silenced with a look from Rhiannon.
“Is it that boy from the party?” Thomas asked, his head tilting slightly to the side. The smile quickly fell from the four eldest Bennett children’s faces, Allisyn, however was quick to regain hers.
“What guy?” She asked casually, inspecting her fingernails calmly while the other three tried to regain their composure.
“The guy Cora was dancing with?” Thomas added as Allisyn shot him a stern glare, Marcelle was now paying attention. Violet paled as Marcelle repeated Allisyn’s question though she was much more interested.
“Oh, he was just someone’s son” Coralie responded confidently, “Didn’t catch his name” She smiled softly before the conversation was dropped and everyone went back to eating.
“Read it” Violet whispered, joining Coralie in her bedroom a few hours later- once everyone had gone home. She dropped a letter into Coralie’s lap, who stared at it for a while before picking it up and opening it,
Violet,
Aren’t you just the master of disguise? Why is it that I can’t seem to find you though Herbert clearly can, boy it would be wonderful to hear back from you so that I can know that it is you who’s reading this and not some old creep- I’m sure you’ll see what you can do.
I do have my doubts; I would have expected you to do something rash by now but alas here I am sitting in your old living room waiting for a little bit of entertainment from everyone’s favourite Bennett.
Tell me love, how is Coralie? She’s not like you at all is she? I fear I may have chosen the smarter Bennett to go after, pity I hadn’t seen you first. Ah well, dear Coralie is much prettier, is she not?
Enjoy your Christmas.
Leo
She quickly scanned the letter, reading it over and over in her head before she could speak. “When did you get this?” Coralie asked, gripping the letter tightly in her hands.
“A few weeks ago” Violet responded, staring at the letter with her big blue eyes before sighing and look straight ahead at the wall.
“Who did you tell?” The younger one asked, staring down at her feet now with a determination filling her eyes.
“Jacob and Allisyn, that’s it. Does Angus know?”
“No, I don’t think so” Coralie replied and Violet sighed with relief before standing up.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then?” Violet smiled weakly, placing her hand on Coralie’s shoulder before disappearing around the corner and leaving Coralie alone to stare down at the letter in front of her.
It worried her; the fact that Leo was so desperate to take out her family with no seemingly good reason. With a sigh, she shoved the letter in the drawer of her bedside table and collapsed back into her bed and without bothering to turn off her light, she fell asleep.
A few days passed and Coralie had barely run into Violet through the house which somewhat surprised her, though the house was reasonably sized it wasn’t bigger enough as to completely miss people and therefore Coralie decided that Violet was indeed avoiding her- not that she particularly minded. Her mind was focused on James’ party that was to take place that night.
With a sigh, she slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen for a snack. There was only about an hour left before Jacob was going to drop her off at Mary’s with whom she’d then walk to James’ party with. Fumbling around in the fridge she quickly pulled out an apple and bit into it before sitting
“Who was the boy your cousin was talking about?” She asked, staring at Coralie with a questioning look on her face.
“It was no one ma” Coralie responded immediately, refusing to meet her mothers’ eyes.
“Don’t lie to me Coralie” Marcelle spat back, her voice raising slightly. Coralie sighed; she’d never once heard her mother get this angry about anything. “Tell me”
“It was no one important mother” She replied, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.
“Coralie” Marcelle said sternly but she was cut off by the sound of Jacob’s voice.
“Cora, you in there?” Jacob called, before he appeared in front of the two of them. “You ready to go then?” He asked casually, obviously detecting the hostility between the two.
“Yes, I’m ready” She answered, nodding a goodbye at her mother before following Jacob out towards his car.
“You alright sis?” Jacob bit down on his lip, opening the car door before sliding into the driver’s seat.
“Fine” She whispered, closing her eyes and leaning back against the car seat.
An hour later the little car finally pulled into Mary’s driveway after the entire time was spent in silence bar the sound of the Jacob’s watch ticking constantly. As the car drew to a stop Coralie looked over at Jacob.
“Alrighty then” Jacob started, pulling the keys out of the ignition and stared over at Coralie.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow Jake. Bout three o’clock?” Coralie added and Jacob nodded, she smiled at her brother before she opened the door and swung her legs to the side.
“Wait” He said, turning to face her as she turned back to him. “So there will probably be alcohol of some kind at this party tonight and your boyfriend will be there and god knows who else” Coralie raised an eyebrow at him.
“Where exactly are you going with this?” She asked, staring over at her brother with a confused look. Jacob sighed, and bought his hand up to ruffle his hair before letting it fall back into his lap.
“Just be careful Cor” Coralie stared at her brother for a minute before she cringed.
“Please no Jake” She whispered.
“But seriously Coralie, Don’t do anything” He pleaded and Coralie shook her head as she turned away again.
“I’m leaving Jake. I’ll see you tomorrow” She said, pulling her bag out of the backseat before sending her brother a little wave.
“Nothing, Coralie, Nothing!” He called after her and Coralie chuckled, turning around briefly to wink at her brother as he disappeared down the street. As she turned back to Mary’s house, she smiled brightly. Nothing could bring her day down now.
The sky darkened as Coralie followed Mary along the wizarding streets that led to James’ house. It was about seven o’clock and the two girls were on their way to what Mary was referring to as the party of the year. Mary’s parents had gone out to their own parties and had left the girls to their own devices. Coralie knew her own mother would be disgusted at the idea of letting her daughter walk alone at night but she could hardly say that to Mary.
“How much longer?” She asked nervously. Her feet were already killing her in the stupid high heels that Violet and her mother had picked out for her; they had said that it would ‘attract’ Sirius. Coralie rolled her eyes at just the thought of this.
“Just another street Cors” Mary responded, twirling around the sidewalk as she went which caused Coralie to raise an eyebrow. The next street came into view and Coralie found herself being pulled along by Mary to a big old house that was obviously decorated for a party. “Here we are” She grinned, pulling Coralie towards the door.
“Hey Cors, Mary!” Kiki yelled, hugging both of the girls tightly before moving onto some boys that came in the door afterwards. Coralie glanced around the room, hoping to see Sirius somewhere but couldn’t.
“I’m going to find Sirius” She yelled to Mary, who nodded, though she highly doubted that her friend had even heard her. She pushed her way through the crowd to a set of double doors which she pushed her way through, letting the cool breeze rush around her.
“Hey” Cory said, appearing beside Coralie with a bright smile on his face.
“Hello Cory, you seen Sirius by any chance?” She asked, and he shook his head before he moved down the patio. Coralie quickly followed after him. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m just not really a party person- you know?” He sighed and Coralie nodded.
“Yeah, me neither” She added, sitting next to Cory on the patio steps. They were silent for a while before Cory coughed, bringing Coralie out of her thoughts.
“You okay?” He asked, staring up at the stars before looking over at her.
“Yeah, I’m good” She responded, her voice dry. She could tell Cory knew something was wrong but he didn’t bring it up, he reminded her of her brothers in that way. The pair fell into silence again before Coralie sighed and lay back onto the patio, Cory quickly copying her but they both kept silent for which Coralie was thankful for, she was glad that Cory didn’t feel the need to say something every minute.
A few hours passed and couples appeared and disappeared onto the patio, too engulfed in their passion to notice the two of them- whether their passion was real or fake, Coralie didn’t seem like it was much of her business and Cory seemed to agree. It wasn’t until James poked his head around the corner that the silence was broken.
“There you are Cors” He said, oddly sober which Coralie had definitely not expected from the Marauder. “Sirius is looking for you inside” He said solemnly, popping himself next to Cory and sighing.
“Okay then, I’ll go find him then” She said unsurely, she wasn’t sure whether it was safe to leave James and Cory alone when they both seemed so upset about something but she knew Sirius was waiting for her. She pushed herself back through the crowds and looked around for a while before finally she noticed Sirius standing on the stairs in a heated argument with a blonde girl whose face Coralie couldn’t see.
As she got closer, she could just catch a few of the words that were being thrown around; ‘cheated’, ‘forgive’, ‘different’ and ‘sorry’ but by the time she got close enough to be able to hear full sentences, Sirius had noticed her and ignored the girl.
“Hey” Coralie said, as the blonde girl stormed past Sirius and up to the second story.
“It’s over Coralie” He stated and Coralie almost thought he was joking until she saw the cold look in his eyes, She nodded without saying a word and turned on her heel- ignoring the shouts from her friends as she pushed through the front door. She quickly tossed off her shoes and sat down on the gravel driveway.
“Cora?” She smiled weakly and turned around to look at Cory who was watching her with worry laced in his eyes. He frowned but didn’t say anything else as he sat next to Coralie and threw his arms around her shoulders.
“I don’t get it” She whispered, resting her head on Cory’s shoulders. “Does it make sense to you?” Cory shook his head solemnly. “I think its midnight” Coralie added at the sounds of cheering inside the house and the explosion of fireworks in the backyard- Coralie could only guess that they were courtesy of the Marauders.
“Yeah” Cory whispered and Coralie turned to face with a frown but was surprised as her lips were captured by Cory’s. She was frozen for a minute before her mind kicked in and she pushed him away.
“I’m sorry” She whispered and stood up, grabbing her shoes and heading back inside where she ran immediately ran into Lily who looked like she’d been pulling her hair out.
“Cora” She breathed, pulling Coralie back outside. “Come on, we’ll get you home okay?” Coralie nodded.
“Thanks Lil” She whispered and Lily beamed at her.
“No problem” She said as Lily’s dad pulled up in front of them, she noted that Cory had disappeared from where they’d been sitting just a few seconds ago. Coralie followed her friend into the car and gave Lily’s dad directions to her house as they head off. “You alright?” Lily whispered as the car drove up Coralie’s driveway, placing her hand over Coralie’s.
“Yeah” Coralie barely whispered, as she shuffled over to the car door. She quickly thanked Lily’s dad and hugged her friend goodbye before climbing out of the car and moving towards her front door, she quickly pulled out her house keys and tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. With an exasperated sigh, she slid down to the floor and threw her keys next to her.
“Please, just swallow me up” She said to the ground, frowning down at it before shutting her eyes.
“Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness sis” Angus chuckled, his head appearing through the front door. Coralie sighed before frowning up at her young brother. “What’s up?” He asked, sitting down next to her.
“Sirius broke up with me” She responded, disappointment seeping through her voice. Angus sighed but kept quiet as he pulled her off the floor.
“I love you sis” He whispered.
The next Coralie found herself being watched by all of her family very closely; like they scared that if they looked away for too long that she might go mad or even suicidal. She early figured out that Angus had told them about what had happened the night before and now they were all taking it as their responsibility to watch over her like hawks. She thought it was sweet and she understood why they were being so protective but she also seriously needed her own space for longer than five minutes but she couldn’t bring it up with them- they’d just deny it.
On the plus side, Violet was no longer avoiding her and had actually taken position of lead protector much to Jacob’s dismay.
The same antics went on for days until the point where Coralie really could not take it anymore and decided to bring it up; she started with Angus first considering he’d probably be the most mature about it- funny considering he was the youngest, and so on the third day she found him outside.
“Hey Angus” She smiled, sitting next to him on one of the many stone benches that their mother had placed all over the garden.
“Hey” He grinned, throwing his arm around her shoulder and hugging her tightly. “How’re you doing?” He asked, the worry seeping through his voice.
“I’m fine Angus, Really I am” She replied and he nodded though Coralie could see the doubt in his eyes. “I am, I really thought I’d be more upset about it but I don’t know…”
“I know Cora. I know you’re fine, you always are” He replied and Coralie smiled at him, resting her head on his shoulder. He smiled too, brushed some of her hair away and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Still love you sis” He added causing Coralie to chuckle. Now Coralie felt more confident about everything and so she figured maybe her family’s protection wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
The scene was set for Pierre Bennett’s birthday soiree, the house elves had decked out the second story ballroom with golden and cream decorations- being Mabel Bennett’s- Coralie’s grandmother, favourite colours and the food had been prepared. Coralie and Jacob- who her grandmother had chosen would be the only eligible bachelor in the family, had arrived two hours before the party was due to start and had bared witnessed to their eccentric grandmother’s planning. At one point, they’d even had to stuff their fists in their mouths in order to hide their laughter and their father was ordered around like a house elf but had quickly sobered up when their grandmother noticed.
After half an hour of witty remarks thrown at their father, Mabel sent them upstairs to get ready which they quickly agreed to in fear of being ordered around too. Coralie took her time getting up the room that she had once called her own, back when her parents were still together. The hallways hadn’t changed much although she quickly noticed that her mother was missing from every portrait- she highly doubted this was the work of her father though- he probably never even noticed. Coralie was ninety percent sure it was her grandmother’s idea, the other ten percent was betting on her mother’s strong will.
With a slight chuckle to herself, Coralie moved into her old room which had been converted into what Coralie imagined her to be her grandmother’s second bedroom. The walls were covered in hideous yellow wallpaper that also covered the roof. Three large windows that reached from just an inch off the floor to about six inches from the roof provided a ridiculous amount of light into the room- so much so that Coralie found herself squinting against the glare of the sun.
Placed right in front of the first window was a king sized bed, it was slightly higher than the rest of the furniture as it was placed on a raised platform. The curtains of the bed had been drawn back and the bed had been neatly made by the house elves which hardly took long for Coralie to ruin as she fell backwards onto the thick blanket.
After a few minutes of lying there in contentment, Coralie sighed and pushed herself up- there was no doubt in her mind that in any minute her grandmother would be poking her head around the corner to see if she was ready yet. She quickly pulled on the dress she had bought with Lily and moved towards the vanity- taking the seat in front of the mirror as she began to play with her hair- it was being exceptionally difficult that day.
It took her another half an hour before she’d managed to make her curly locks somewhat presentable at which time Jacob had collapsed onto the king bed and was humming along to some tune.
“How much longer are you going to take?” He groaned, reaching his hands to massage his head- Coralie chuckled and quickly applied her lipstick.
“Done” She grinned, standing up from the vanity stool before moving over to the bed and pulling her brother up. “Come on, let’s go exploring!” Jacob rolled his eyes but quickly followed her out of the room and down the corridor; he’d do anything to not run into his grandmother more than was necessary.
Coralie let her arms fall from her brother’s shoulders as the slow song came to an end, Jacob led her back to the edges of the dance floor. She could feel the eyes of almost every girl on her and though Jacob was ignoring it, Coralie knew he noticed too.
“Go on then, break some hearts” Coralie said, pushing her brother on the shoulder slightly, he sighed and then turned to stare at her with sympathetic look in his deep brown eyes.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright here by yourself?” He asked and she nodded in reply, using hand gestures to usher him away. With another sighed, he nodded and headed towards a brunette who had obviously caught his eye. Coralie sighed as she was left alone with her thoughts for the first time since she and Sirius had broken up. She adored her family but they were almost acting like Sirius had died rather than them breaking up.
She quickly tilted her head back and swallowed her glass of bubbly before setting it down on a table and politely making her way through the large crowd and out onto one of the balconies that was attached to the second story ballroom. She let out a relieved sighed as the cold air hit her face but it quickly turned into a half squeal as she noticed a snogging couple on the edge of the balcony. The guilty couple quickly broke apart, the girl- a tall blonde smirked as her eyes set on Coralie before turning her attention back to the boy.
“Run along would you?” She whispered seductively- the boy nodded, clearly too fixated on her looks to notice the rudeness in the girls’ voice and so he sneaked back into the ballroom. “Hello Coralie” She whispered, her lips twitching upwards again in a smirk- Coralie had begun to wonder if that was the only facial expression this girl knew.
“Who are you?” She asked calmly, one of her eyebrows rising slightly at the girl who chuckled.
“Of course, Lily would never mention me”
“Shelena Millen?” Coralie whispered and the girl cocked her eyebrows.
“And so lovely Lils did mention me” Coralie’s mind was racing a mile a minute- the girl that was standing in front of her was Shelena Millen, the girl that had treated Lily horribly, made Cory’s life difficult and had torn apart Sirius and she was just standing there!
“What are you doing here?” She tried to keep her cool and though she thought she seemed confident enough, Shelena laughed again.
“You are a cute one!” Shelena exclaimed, playing with her cuticles. “I mean when my brother told me all about you, I thought you were going to just be another pathetic wimp but maybe I was wrong” She looked up from her nails without a twisted smile on her face before stepping closer to Coralie who found herself frozen on the spot.
“Your brother?” She whispered- desperately wishing her own brother was there to help her out.
“From what I believe you met him last year, His name is Leo” Shelena commented, her eyes twinkling with delight at Coralie’s pained expression. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut- Leo was Shelena’s brother? “I take it you remember him then?” She chuckled again and Coralie tried to keep herself steady.
“How?” She whispered without even realising that she’d said it out loud, Shelena however smirked and replied casually.
“I hope I don’t need to give you the talk of the birds and bees Bennett” She then snorted at her own joke before her smile turned into a smirk again. “I just came to warn you”
“About?” Coralie replied, her voice trembling slightly.
“My brother doesn’t give up” Shelena answered, she then paused for a second before pulling Coralie ear close to her lips and whispering furiously, “And to stay away from Sirius, he doesn’t want you” She then pushed Coralie back into the balcony barrier and turned on her heel, storming back into the ballroom.
Coralie let out the sob she’d been holding in and slid down the barrier and onto the stone floor before she wrapped herself in her own arms. She quickly let her face fall into the knees and let everything that she had bottled up, out. After a few minutes, the door creaked open slightly to reveal Jacob who took one look at her form before crouching beside her and wrapping his arms tightly around her.
“What’s happened?” He whispered, and somehow between her erratic sobs Coralie managed to squeeze out two words.
“Leo knows”
Authors Note; that was the monster of a chapter wasn’t it? So I’m not sure whether you guys like the chapters long like this or shorter like the other ones, no one’s ever really said so I’m just guessing that this is cool- let me know which length you prefer for the future.
Anyway, I think it’s important that I address a few issues before I wrap this up- one, this is probably one of the most important chapters in the entire novel so make sure you’d paid attention, secondly, don’t hate me for making Coralie and Sirius break up- I promise that it’s very important to the story line and thirdly and finally, I’m sorry it took me so long to update I was doing Camp NaNoWriMo last month (I was actually writing the sequel for this) and therefore I was a bit busy and it basically took me the entire month to write.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look out for Chapter Twenty five in a fortnight or so. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Within Temptation and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Do you hear these words.
Do you feel the wounds.
I'll never help you through.
Shelena steadily made her way through the crowd, her long blonde hair flowing widely behind her. She couldn’t believe her luck, the first one of these stupid ‘soiree’ things that she’d attended and she’d run into Coralie Bennett herself. She could admit, she hadn’t expected to see the pathetic girl for at least another few parties- she wasn’t complaining, at least this way she wouldn’t need to come again.
Suddenly, she found herself being tugged to the side but before she could make any sort of noise she noticed that it was in fact her brother. She smirked at him, excited to see his expression when she told him the good news.
“Where were you?” He whispered furiously, his expression changing into a smile as a couple of old ladies walked past. Shelena rolled her eyes- that was her brother, always the charmer.
“I found Bennett” She replied, tugging the edges of her mouth into a wicked smile. Leo’s smile quickly faded and his eyes shone with anger.
“You did what?” He spat, his voice still in a low whisper. Shelena sighed loudly, sometimes her brother could be so slow.
“I found the Bennett girl” She repeated slowly before pausing. “You know, the youngest one? The one you wanted?”
“Why the hell did you do that?” Leo replied before pulling his sister down the hallway and towards the front door.
“Because you weren’t obviously going to do anything” Shelena spat back. “It’s my life on the line here, not yours, mine. I’m not going to bloody well sit back and watch as you send petty little letters to the Bennett girls. I’m going to do something about it” She turned on her heel, sending the blonde hair flying around with her and made to head back towards the party but was pulled back by her brother. There was a pulling at her navel as she gritted her teeth together and before she knew it she was standing back on their street.
With a broken smile, Coralie allowed Jacob to sit her down on the couch before he headed towards his room to bring her down a blanket, nodding to Violet as he disappeared. Violet watched her little sister carefully for a minute before she sighed and sat down next to her, resting her sister’s hand in her lap and using her hands to brush the hair out of Coralie’s face.
It pained her to see her once carefree sister like this; she could remember the times when Coralie used to always smile no matter what had been thrown at her. She always admired her for that. But nowadays, Coralie was failing to keep that smile around when something went wrong. She wondered if Coralie had never been moved to Hogwarts and to England as a whole whether everything would have played out the same.
With a deep breath, Violet let her head rest on the top of the couch and closed her eyes for a minute- still subconsciously stroking her sister’s hair. Coralie quickly fell to sleep.
“Cor” A voice whispered and Coralie scrunched up her eyes; the voice sighed loudly before pushing Coralie on the shoulder. She groaned and begrudgingly opened her eyes to see Angus standing above her. “We need to move, Mum’s waking up soon and Jacob says we need to pretend nothing happened” Coralie nodded and stood up from the couch.
“Violet’s already in bed?” She asked sleepily and Angus nodded as they both fell into silence as they climbed the stairs, they quickly muttered tired goodbyes before they went their separate ways. Some hours later, Coralie rolled onto her side and groaned as the bright sun hit her face- it seemed obvious now that she’d forgotten to close her curtains last night.
Knowing that there was no way she’d ever get back to sleep now, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She headed down the kitchen straight away and popped some toast in the toaster before waiting for it to pop back up; when it did she quickly buttered it and spread nutella over it before taking a large bit and sitting down at the table.
“Morning dear” Marcelle grinned, as she got her own breakfast ready. Coralie smiled at her in response, taking in her mother’s appearance in. Her mother was gorgeous without trying, even at eight o’clock in the morning with her hair tied back into a bun; she was still the definition of beauty. “How was last night?” She asked, making herself a cup of tea.
“It was good” Coralie lied, though she knew her mother didn’t expect anything, not yet anyway. Marcelle nodded, taking the seat next to Coralie at the table.
“What time did it end?” She asked, taking a bite out of her toast as she flipped carelessly through the Daily Prophet. Despite her cool actions, Coralie could tell that her mother was bursting to ask about the party and so Coralie decided to tease her a little.
“Bout one I suppose” She answered casually and her mother sighed, putting down the newspaper to look at Coralie. She sent her daughter and look that said ‘I give up, just tell me’ and Coralie chuckled. “It was alright mother, nothing exciting happened and Grandmama was just as annoying as always” Marcelle sighed and went back to her newspaper. “I’m heading off to the library” Coralie said, standing up from the table and pushing her chair back in.
Once in the library that her mother had demanded was put in, Coralie searched down the aisles before she came upon a book labelled ‘Fairy tales’. She’d never seen the book before and so she pulled it out, using her hand to clear some of the dust. Moving towards the armchairs, she collapsed into one and opened the padlock.
On the very first page was a little note, handwritten in by a neat scrawl that read:
Two girls born in the same year, entwined by the blood of our families. To live as one and to die as one. Hear my words, Let this blessing be a curse.
Coralie placed the book back on the table and stared down at it. It was clear to her what it was- her grandmother, on her mother’s side, had talked about the ancient magic many times when Coralie was just starting to show her powers. The ancient magic referred to a time when witches and wizards did not use their wands for magic, Coralie’s grandmother had pointed out that they still had them only they weren’t use unless in private due to muggle servants in homes. Instead, magic was used by a wave of their hands and some old words. The words used were generally self-explanatory to the kind of spell wanting to be performed unlike the spells used nowadays.
The ancient magic had been faded out, according to her grandmother, due to the fact that it was hard to control especially for young children and so wands were being started to be used.
With another read off the spell, Coralie shut the book tightly and locked it back up before leaving the library, the book clasped tightly in her hand. She figured it was worth reading over while she was at Hogwarts, maybe even worth showing to Lily- she was sure her friend would enjoy it somewhat.
The next morning came and passed without much excitement, it wasn’t until 10:30 when Angus and Coralie were saying goodbye to everyone- this time Marcelle, Allisyn and Haley had come to see them off, that things started to get interesting.
It had been Coralie’s idea to come at that specific time as the platform was then busy and therefore there was only a slim chance that she would run into Sirius or Cory. She was still terrified of what would happen if she saw either of them. It had seemed perfectly intelligent at the time but standing on the actual platform, she’d sworn she’d seen a flash on black hair more than once.
“Be good, my angels” Marcelle gushed, holding Coralie’s face tightly before placing a kiss on her cheek and then hugging her tightly. She did the same thing to Angus who turned beet red as some girls from his year walked passed and giggled.
“We will mother, you don’t need to worry” Coralie replied, touching her mother’s arm to reassure her- Marcelle smiled at the gesture before letting the others say goodbye.
“Keep smiling sis” Allisyn whispered causing Coralie to smile at the familiar comment; it had been her sister’s line for as long as she could remember.
“Owl me and remember to have fun” Jacob said, hugging his sister as tightly to him as humanly possible before letting Violet take over.
“Be strong Coralie, it’s not worth it otherwise” Coralie nodded and gave her sister’s hand a little squeeze before releasing it and hugging Haley quickly.
“See you next holidays” Marcelle said as Coralie and Angus climbed onto the Hogwarts Express. They both yelled back replies as the train began to head off; they smiled at each other warmly before heading down the corridor to find their respective friends.
The first two weeks back passed quickly and before anyone knew it, it was the second weekend back and the first Quidditch game for the term. Gryffindor was playing against Hufflepuff, and so between Mary and Azure- she’d never have the chance to conveniently forget. Though it seemed Lily shared the same views, the two of them found themselves wrapping up with anything Gryffindor-ish they could find on Saturday morning.
“You can head down to breakfast, if you want Lily. I need to reply to my mother’s owl before I forget” She explained as Lily slipped on her knee high boots.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” She asked kindly, and Coralie nodded. “I would wait, but I’m starved to be honest”
“It doesn’t surprise me, you skipped dinner last night to finish that Charms essay” Lily chuckled slightly before heading down the stairs. Only Coralie and Mary were left in the dormitory, though Mary was still in the bathroom and had told the other two girls not to worry about waiting for her.
Wrapping around her Gryffindor scarf, Coralie pulled out some parchment and a quill and jotted down a quick reply to the letter she had received the night before. Once she was finished, she placed the letter back in her trunk for her to send after the Quidditch game and went down stairs.
And there in the Common Room was Cory, standing with his back to the girls’ staircase though he quickly turned around when he heard her footsteps.
“Hey” He whispered, an awkwardness hanging in the air from the events of James’ party.
“Cory, about what happened at the party” She started as Cory deferred his gaze to his feet.
“It’s fine Coralie” He replied before she had a chance to say anything. She sighed and went to speak again as Mary came bundling down the stairs. Coralie watched with wide eyes as Mary came over to them and slipped her hand into Cory’s.
“Hey Cors, you ready for the game?” She asked, as bubbly as ever, and Coralie nodded softly in response. "Are you ready to go Cory?”
“Yeah” Cory whispered, frowning softly at Coralie as he was led away by Mary. Coralie sighed before frowning and making her way out of the portrait. As she reached the Great Hall, she quickly slipped into the spare spot next to Lily and listened carefully to what Kiki was going on about. She’d noticed on the train that something was wrong with the usually talkative girl that was Kiki Soho and had been meaning to bring up, but sitting there at the Gryffindor table- she doubted she needed to anymore.
Coralie silently ate her breakfast before she followed Lily and Kiki- the other girls had gone on before them, down to the Quidditch pitch. They passed James who was finishing off a muffin as he walked towards the changing rooms; he made a point of asking Lily for a good luck kiss which she responded with a rude hand gesture. Eventually they made it to the stands and joined the other girls, Remus and Peter.
Soon enough the game began and Coralie didn’t pay much attention to what was going on, she only clapped and cheered when her friends did and smiled at Azure, who was beater for Hufflepuff, whenever she flew close enough by. Though she was paying enough attention to notice how interested her brother seemed to be, which was odd considering he wasn’t a big Quidditch fan, like herself.
Things began to get exciting when Sirius hit a bludger in the direction of Azure, who didn’t look very happy at all. It was then that Coralie decided to tune into the commentator whom was a Hufflepuff that she’d never met before.
“And oh, Simons looks frustrated now. She’s gripping her beater’s bat tightly and she’s flying towards Black- do you think she realises she hasn’t got a bludger?” He asked McGonagall, who was too busy watching the scene unfold to answer him. In fact all the stands were silent as they watched Azure flying towards Sirius with wicked speed. As she came closer, she juggled her bat between her hands before swinging it at Sirius’ head with every inch of strength she had.
Sirius’ chuckle quickly filled the pitch but was faded out by a deafening crack. “I think Simons realised she didn’t have a bludger” The commentator stated, his mouth wide open like much of the crowd and the other players as Sirius grabbed onto his nose.
“Foul!” He shouted as both teams touched down. He looked absolutely livid and was sending Azure a death glare though he was shouting at Madam Hooch.
“Captain Potter, your call” Madam Hooch said, staring at James with an annoyed expression- she wasn’t a fan of being screamed at. Sirius sighed with relief, knowing that his best friend would side with him.
“Play on” James replied, turning on his heel and heading back to where his team was standing, waiting for him. Madam Hooch nodded, a small twinkle appearing in her eyes as she walked off.
“What?” Sirius yelled, following after James and pushing his best friend slightly. He couldn’t believe his luck, first he gets whacked in the face with a beater’s bat by a fourth year girl in Hufflepuff and then his best friend sides with her.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what that was for” James replied, mounting his broom and pushing off into the sky. Somehow, Quidditch seemed more worthwhile to Coralie now.
Authors Note: First of all I’d like to thank you guys, for the last two chapters I got a much bigger response than I thought I would so thank you to everyone!
In the previous chapter I asked you guys whether you preferred long or short chapters, like I imagined you would, you guys said longer ones and therefore I’m going to attempt to make the following chapters at least 2,000 words. I’d like to apologise to you about how slowly I’ve been updating lately, I’m going to try and work on getting quicker update so you guys don’t have to wait nearly half as long.
I have one question for guys now, I’d really, really love to know who your favourite character is so far in Tied Together with a Smile so go on, leave a review and tell me so I know who to include more of next time. I’ll see you guys then, thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by She and Him and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Coralie’s plain school shoes clicked against the corridor floor as she quickly strode through the school. She was on a mission of sorts- to get to the Hospital Wing and see Sirius. She admitted that she’d been avoiding him for a while now but after the Quidditch game- with Azure, she felt it was time to talk to him.
She’d stayed up the night before running herself through what she would say to him. It had taken her several hours, multiple inches of parchment which now resided on her floor and numerous comments of ‘talking to yourself is the first sign of madness Cors’ being thrown at her by the other girls but she’d finally come up with the exact words to say.
With a deep breath, she pushed the doors to the Hospital Wing open and stepped inside. On the furthest bed sat Sirius, his back to Coralie.
“Hey” She whispered, taking a few steps forward so that there wasn’t such a distance between the two of them. He quickly turned around, his eyes narrowing slightly when he noticed it was her but Coralie tried to keep an open mind.
“Come to hit me yourself this time?” He snapped, turning back to stare out the window. Coralie bit down hard on her lip, her perfect plan was gone.
“I didn’t tell Azure to hurt you” Coralie replied, taking several quick steps so that she could sit next to Sirius. He only rolled his eyes in response. “Not that you didn’t deserve it” She added, her voice dropping low. “I don’t understand” Sirius quickly dropped his eyes to the floor.
“What is there not to understand Coralie?” He whispered colder than Coralie had ever imagined he could. It scared her. “We’re over, move on. Find some other guy who can actually stand you” Coralie flinched slightly, before she let out an angry huff.
“I didn’t know you felt like that Black” She said as harshly as she could manage, standing up from the hospital bed and making her way towards the door. “I hope you find some whore who you can actually stand” She turned sharply on her heel and marched out of the hospital wing, all plans of apologises being thrown out of the window. “That bastard” She groaned, running her things through her hair. Ugh, she detested Sirius Black.
“You back Cora?” Lily asked as Coralie pushed through the dormitory door and collapsed onto her bed. Upon the sounding of Coralie sighing, Lily peeked over her book and frowned. “How’d it go?” She questioned, her eyebrows raising when Coralie groaned in response and buried her head into the pillow. “I’ll take that as a no” She mumbled.
“I hate him” She replied casually, rolling onto her back so she could stare up at the roof. Lily chuckled in reply.
“Finally, you’ve seen the light” She half-joked, trying to make her friend smile somehow. Coralie, however, completely ignored her comment and continued to ramble on about how much she rued the day she met Sirius Black.
“You know what he said then?” The blonde asked and without waiting for a reply from Lily- knowing that it would be a sarcastic one, she added with a voice that mocked Sirius’. “Find some other guy who can actually stand you” Lily raised her eyebrows again and let out a noise of disbelief, sitting up on her bed and staring at her friend.
“He’s bonkers, I tell you Cors” She added seriously, rolling her eyes. The pair fell into silence before Lily threw her book to the end of the bed, “You said you had that French book you wanted me to see” Coralie nodded and crawled to the end of her bed- opening her trunk as she fished for her book of ‘Fairy tales’.
“Here it is” She said, yanking it out of her trunk and passing it to Lily who flipped it open and carefully skimmed a few pages.
“It’s a diary?” She queried, tilting her head to the side as she read through a couple of passages. “It’s so ancient” Lily commented, running her fingers along the sides of the book.
“I think it’d originated from at least the 1700’s” Coralie added, shrugging her shoulders. The red head nodded in response and focused on the page she’d turned to.
“Have you read this yet?” She asked and Coralie shook her head. “Dear Journal, Mother says it is to happen tonight. Tonight, they will seize her and charge her for her crimes. Father doesn’t care, he hasn’t listened to mother for as long as I can remember and Henri is too young to understand yet. She tells me I have to be strong, to look after Henri and Edouard and Richaud- though they are not my brothers. I am scared” Lily paused, “Sylvie Bonnet”
Both girls fell into silence again, both replaying the words over and over again in their heads. “You don’t think I’m related to her do you?” Coralie asked the question that was on both of their minds.
“I don’t know Cors” Lily replied, “You don’t mind if I keep this book and read through it a bit do you?” Coralie shook her head.
“Of course not” She let out a deep breath and sat up, “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll see you at lunch?” Lily nodded; burying herself into the book the moment Coralie closed the door. She needed to know all about this Sylvie Bonnet.
Coralie was also having a hard time brushing the thought out of her mind, it would make sense- Sylvie being related to her in some way, otherwise why would they have someone’s diary in the library? With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair and continued to trek through the grounds.
It was a nice enough day, not too hot but not too cold- just perfect, really. Therefore the ground of Hogwarts were filled with students of all ages and houses, some were playing small games of Quidditch while others were just lazing around and talking. As she headed towards the steps Coralie noticed Angus, Azure and a few other friends all sitting around. She smiled briefly at Azure before Angus noticed her and waved her over.
“Hey Sis, how’s it going?” He asked, motioning for her to sit down. She smiled and plopped down next to her brother.
“It’s been alright, and for you?” She asked. Angus’ eyes twinkled a little as he went to speak.
“It’s great in Angus-land” He chuckled, Coralie quickly joining in. “These are my friends by the way” He said, the other fourth years all smiled at her and waved. “You know Azure clearly, but this is Ryan and Matthew Davies- they’re twins” The two twin boys, both with hair in such a dark shade of black that it almost looked blue. “That’s Nellie Johnson” The small Ravenclaw girl smiled brightly and turned back to her book instantly. “And that’s Briony Daniels” The last girl smiled and stuck her hand out to shake Coralie’s.
“It’s nice to meet you properly. I was at that party thing for you a few weeks back but I didn’t get a chance to meet you” It was then that Coralie noticed the Gryffindor tie that the hung loosely around the girls neck. She smiled brightly at Briony and shook her hand.
The fourth year group fell back into the conversation that they’d previously been having as Coralie half listened. She was proud of her brother for making a nice group of friends so quickly- he’d always struggled with meeting new people but he seemed to have picked a good group of friends this time.
She didn’t have much time to focus on her brother’s conversation due to the fact that a yelling match seemed to have started behind them.
“THERE’S BLOOD EVERYONE. I THINK HE’S DEAD!” Coralie frowned as the speaker burst into laughter- completely unsure of what the hell was going on, she turned around to see Tyler rolling on the floor laughing while Sarah stood off to the side and watched. As people walked past, they began to stare at Tyler- some even pointed and laughed. “OH CORALIE- HI!” He screamed as he noticed Coralie watching, Sarah sighed with relief and ran over to her.
“Hey” She smiled, joining Coralie on the grass as they pretended they had never seen Tyler before. He seemed to get more and more creative with every time they ignored him, it wasn’t until five minutes had passed and he was starting to rhyme things will Sarah such as Carah and Narah that they finally gave in. “Why don’t we head down to Hagrid’s Hut?” She asked, half glaring at Tyler through her glasses.
“I’ve never been down there” Coralie added with a casual shrug of her shoulders and both Ravenclaw’s turned to stare at her.
“You haven’t met Hagrid?” Sarah asked, her eyebrows furrowing as Coralie shook her head. Her fellow Gryffindor had mentioned Hagrid-the gamekeeper, multiple times and they’d all told her that they’d eventually introduce her to him but none of them had had time yet.
“You poor neglected child!” Tyler exclaimed and Sarah shook her head in mock disappointment.
“Come on then, No time to waste” The Ravenclaw said, pulling Coralie along in what the latter guessed was the direction to Hagrid’s hut. It took maybe five minutes from where they had been standing to reach the bottom of the hill where the gamekeeper’s hut was located.
As they reached the old wooden door, Sarah reached up and loudly knocked. There was some scrambling inside before the door flung open to a tall, almost giant-like man with a dark brown beard that rivalled that of Coralie’s distant uncle. He smiled down at Sarah and Tyler before noticing Coralie.
“Come in” He said, pushing the door open so the three sixth years could stumble in.
Loud thunder crashed as Shelena pushed the steel gate to what had become her ‘house’ open. She hated living in France with every fibre of her being- she’d never thought she’d hear herself say that she actually wanted to be in England.
She wondered how much longer she’d be stuck in France as she pushed her keys into the door and let herself in. The sooner she got out of this stinking small town the better.
“Shelena?” She rolled her eyes upon the sound of her little sister’s worried voice- the girl was far too mature for only twelve years old.
“Yes, it’s me” She replied, boredom lacing her voice. Shelena quickly turned on her heel and trudged upstairs- she threw her bag and shoes to her bedroom fall before pulling off the dress she’d been wearing. She lazily changed into her usual nightwear.
“Where were you?” Leo’s cutting voice came from the hallway. Shelena rolled her eyes and turned to face her older brother who was leaning on the frame of the doorway, a questioning look on his face.
“I don’t see how it’s any of your business” She spat back , the usual coldness in her voice ever present.
“Shelena- I don’t need you messing everything up” He added, grabbing onto her arm and squeezing it deathly tight, in order to make his point. Shelena pursed her lips together at this action but refused to back down. She ripped her arm away and responded as sweetly as she could.
“You haven’t done anything to mess up, sweetheart” With a fake candy sweet smile, she was gone.
Authors Note: This chapter took me a lot longer than I would like to admit but I’m putting this up as quickly as I possibly could. There isn’t much to say this time so look out for Chapter 27, hopefully very soon. Thank you for reading guys!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by He Is We and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Kinda wish I had the courage,
A bit of bravery.
So tired of waiting on a man to come and save me.
"Good Morning Class" Professor Flitwick squeaked as the first period for Monday morning began. "I've decided to set up a new seating plan for this class due to your-" The class droned him out with their groans before they turned to whispered to their friends. "Horrible behavior last class!" He yelled over the chatter.
"I can't believe this" Kiki complained, resting her head on her closed Charm book in front of her. Coralie smiled down at her sadly before turning to Lily who was rolling her eyes at the black haired girl.
"You're half the reason we're getting this stupid seating plan, you and the Marauders" Lily whispered furiously, placing the Charms book she'd previously been reading on the table.
"That's not fair Lils!" Kiki replied, furrowing her eyebrows at her friend. "I tried to pay attention but they kept throwing notes at me" She used her head to motion to the Marauders.
"You have no proof!" James half yelled from the other end of the classroom.
"Does it really matter who started it? We're getting the seating plan anyway" Coralie said, trying to distract Lily from the comments she was so clearly wanting to make.
"Well this is new, Coralie actually finishing something" Sirius commented casually though there was definitely a harsh side to his voice.
"Fuck off Black" Kiki replied instantly, shooting a death glare at Sirius before turning around to face Coralie. She sent her a sad smile and hugged her on the side before actually paying attention to the Professor for once.
"Miss Soho, move next to Mr. Pettigrew thank you" Flitwick said. He'd already moved half the class by the time the three girls and the Marauders had begun to pay attention to him. Kiki nodded solemnly and moved over to Peter who smiled softly at her before continuing to talk to Remus. "Miss Evans, please sit by Miss Barrow" Lily smiled; obviously relieved she hadn't been partnered with one of the Marauders and moved to sit next to Sarah who grinned. "Miss Bennett next to Mr. Peakes, thank you"
Coralie let out a sigh of relief; at least she hadn't been forced to sit next to Sirius. She mostly likely would have stabbed herself with something if that had been the case. She quickly glanced around the room- having never heard of a Peakes in her year level and soon caught the eye of a dark haired Ravenclaw who looked not too happy about having Coralie as a partner. With a sigh, she moved towards him and plopped herself in the empty chair beside him.
"I'm Coralie" She smiled, sticking her hand out for him to shake. He ignored it and opened up his Charms book before replied with,
"Nathaniel" Coralie frowned at the boy's dismissive tone but did not dare press on to ask why he seemed so angry to have her as partner. Instead, she also opened her book and read through the paragraph that Flitwick had asked them to read. Maybe it would have been better to be partnered with Sirius, at least then they would have talked even if it was just them throwing insults at each other for the entire class.
The double period long class passed without so much of a peep out of the Ravenclaw. Coralie pretend that she didn't mind that he only said one word to her the entire lesson and figured that he was just quiet or something- she didn't mind that, it would definitely be a change from working with Kiki. It didn't dawn on her until the end of class that this Nathaniel Peakes seemed to think he was way above Coralie. While that might have been seen to be true by some people, Coralie found it terribly rude that he didn't even try to pretend otherwise.
And so, by the end of that Charms class Coralie had decided that as far as first impressions went- She did not like Nathaniel Peakes one bit.
The rest of the day passed without much excitement, until just before dinner time when James Potter approached Coralie in the Common Room. For once, the pair were both alone which was a rarity in its own.
"Hey" He half-whispered, checking around the empty Common Room as if he suspected one of his fellow Marauders to jump out from behind a couch or something.
"Hi James" Coralie said uncertainly, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. At first she wondered whether he was here to throw some of Sirius' 'witty' comments at her but when he sat down next to her, she began to suspect otherwise. The next thought that ran through his head was that he wanted her opinion on how to win over Lily- she honestly had no idea how to respond to something like that. Sure, she thought of Lily as one of her best friends and knew that Lily felt the same about her but she wasn't sure she had known Lily long enough to start giving James Potter tips on how to win her heart.
"I'm sorry" He stated. Coralie turned to face him with a suspicious look in her eyes, what the hell had he done that he felt he needed to apologize for in advance?
"For what exactly?" She asked, somewhat afraid of what the answer would be.
"About Sirius" He replied, biting down on his lips nervously. It was obvious in that moment that Sirius had definitely not put him up to this but instead James had taken it upon his self to apologize. "I don't why he's being such a prat lately. He won't tell me anything" James sighed and stared over at Coralie.
"I'm sorry, he didn't tell me anything either" She responded sadly, James nodded solemnly. It was clear he was hoping that she would have known what was going on with his best friend. "He didn't even tell me why we broke up" She added afterwards and he sighed again.
"I don't know either Cors" He paused for a minute. "It shocked us honestly; we thought he really liked you. I mean, he told us he did" Coralie shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what to say.
"Clearly not" She added after a few seconds of silence. At that the Common Room fell into silence once more as Coralie and James both began to think of what could have caused Sirius to change so dramatically in such a short period of time. "I should go James, Lily will be looking for me" James nodded but did not respond otherwise, he was too caught up in his thoughts.
He sat there for a couple of more minutes after Coralie had left at which point his fellow Marauders joined him.
"Hey Prongsy" Sirius chuckled, throwing himself into the couch beside him where Coralie had sat. "You alright mate?" He asked after James did not reply.
"Why did you break up with Coralie?" James didn't bother exchanging pleasantries with his best friend. Coralie's words had made him think about what had happened that night and nothing he could think of seemed like a reasonable excuse.
"Did she put you up to this Prongs?" Sirius replied; obviously try to avoid answering for as long as he possibly could. When James shook his head in response, he sighed. "I don't know James. It must have been the firewhiskey or something"
"Then why are you still acting like a prat to her?" Peter asked casually, catching both James and Sirius off guard.
"It's better for her this way; don’t bother asking because I won't tell you" Sirius replied sadly, standing up and heading to the Great Hall. The other three Marauders shared confused looks before following after him.
On Wednesday morning, Coralie woke up to the ever familiar sound of an owl tapping against her window. With a sigh, she pushed herself out of bed and towards the window- ripping the letter off the owl's foot before it flew away without even begging for food or water. The owl had become so familiar by now that Coralie didn't even have to think about who it owned to, she just instantly knew what kind of letter would be waiting for her.
Dear Coralie,
And so it seems that you've met my younger sister then. How'd you like Shelena? I've heard you're dating her ex-boyfriend. How cute! Do you think he'll cry at your funeral? Shelena doesn't seem to think so. It's a pity you're over dating my sister's secondhand scraps, would have thought you had more class than that. Then again, you're following in your own sister's footsteps again. Well your school year is drawing to a close soon, look for me in the holidays love.
Leo Millen
They were always so like each other, the language was sweet enough but the words were harsh. Usually Coralie would have worried about what was written but that particular morning, she was far too tired to care anymore about what Leo had to say. She hadn't bothered to mention to any of her friends that Leo had turned out to be their ex-friend's older brother, she figured it would just worry them. Instead she got dressed into her uniform despite the fact that it was only six in the morning and made her way up to the Owlery.
She sleepily tied the letter to a school owl's leg and sent it off in the direction of Jacob- she knew he'd take care of it with whatever master plan he, Allisyn and Violet had come up with. She wasn't sure she exactly wanted to know what their plan was, she felt much more comfortable pretending she had no idea- like they thought she had. It turned out they were horrible at keeping secrets from her but luckily they were much more skilled at keeping things from their mother, otherwise all four of them would have been in insane amounts of trouble by now.
It obvious to Coralie that someday her mother would find out exactly what was going on- she knew that there was already something she wasn't being told but when that day came Coralie was prepared to defend herself above defending her brother and sister's- they were old enough to look after themselves now.
Turning on her heel, she left the Owlery in order to head back to her dormitory where she collapsed back onto her bed and closed her eyes in order to catch up on the sleep she missed. She could deal with worrying about her family after she'd slept some more and ate breakfast.
Author’s Note: My quickest update in a while, right guys? I thought after that pretty delayed last chapter that you guys all deserved a nice quick update. It’s quite a bit shorter than my recent updates but it’s also a filler chapter but next chapter has some more action in it therefore the word count will be back up around the 2,000-3,000 mark. I hope to see you guys then!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are by Jessie J and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
No, this isn't me
Go, please let me breathe
I'll be back sooner than you know
“Great, you’re here” he groaned not even taking his eyes off his book for a minute. Coralie frowned; half wishing that she’d been partnered with Sirius after all. She turned slightly to see the said boy staring at her, a sour look on his face as beside him Tyler was singing. She turned back and sat down in her seat.
“Why wouldn’t I be here?” she replied coolly, pulling out her Charms book and her wand. Nathaniel didn’t say anything for a moment as Kiki made her way past.
“Thought you would have pitched yourself off the Astronomy Tower by now” Nathaniel cut back and Coralie frowned. She could hardly believe that was indeed a Ravenclaw, rather than a Slytherin. She knew he expected her to respond in some way. In fact she was willing to bet her life on the fact that he wanted to make her cry but there was no way she was going to let that happen. She could stronger than she looked when it came to stupid boys like this Nathaniel Peakes, though it was a wonder she hadn't pitched him off the Astronomy Tower yet.
"I was going to, then I remembered I had Charms with you this afternoon and I could not bear the thought of you being all alone" Coralie added sweetly, twirling a bit of her curly hair as part of the act. When it became evident that the Ravenclaw was not going to make any reply, she hid a little smile behind her hand and moved on with the work.
As the class came to an end an hour later and the class was packing up, Nathaniel leaned over and whispered into Coralie's ear. "Next time, don’t bother Bennett. I'd be much happier without you here" Before Coralie had the chance to respond, he had disappeared out of the classroom. Leaving Coralie with Sirius who seemed intent on taking as long to pack up his things as he possibly could.
"What Black?" Coralie asked. She was hardly in the mood for more cutting comments from stupid teenage boys. If she had to listen to anymore she might actually make her way up to the Astronomy Tower.
"Are you with Peakes now?" He replied. It was evident in his voice that he was trying to seem nonchalant about it all but was failing somewhat to keep a venomous tone hidden.
"In the sense that he's my Charms partner" She picked up the last of her things and left the classroom, moments later Sirius had gripped her wrist tightly.
“Just stay away from him Cora” He said tonelessly, turning on his heel and walking off.
"I was planning on it" She whispered as he disappeared around the corner. She groaned, sliding her bag onto her shoulder- how dare he pretend he cared about her after what he’d done no less than two months ago? He didn’t have the right.
It was only her business as to who she talked to or who she was with, what the hell made him think that anyway? Her and Peakes? She’d sooner die then spend any more time than necessary with that arrogant jerk.
A part of her wondered whether Sirius was jealous of Peakes or something, but she quickly reminded herself that he was the one to break up with her not the other way around, therefore it was his loss. Despite keeping that thought firmly in her mind, she couldn’t help but still wonder about Sirius’ warning. What did he mean?
Realizing that she probably would never understand the mysteries of Sirius’ mind, she made her way back to the Common Room for her free period. She promised herself not to bother thinking anymore about certain boys.
The house was beautiful- old and regal, completely breathtaking. She hadn't been surprised the first time she'd ever made her way through the impossibly long grass, it made sense for them to have such a fancy house but as she began spending more and more time there she realised why they must have loved it so much.
It was old and sandy in colour on the outside, with those little wire balconies around every window in the entire house. The front door was covered in overgrown vines that were a mixture of colours. Inside was even more glamourous, there was five levels and an attic. Although each room was practically bare, little keepsakes and framed portraits had been left around.
There was one portrait that she stopped in front of every time. It was on the first floor, in a corridor for it to be hidden from plain sight. It was of her.
It looked like it had only been painted a few days prior to the house being deserted. Her long blonde hair was let down loosely around her and she wore a bright smile that was somewhat infectious.
She felt sorry for her. She knew what was going on.
Her siblings would never guess that little Anastasia knew but she did. They thought she was too young and childish to realise but she was going to be fifteen soon.
Carefully, Anastasia made her way up the stairs and into Angus' room. He was fourteen too but his family treated him with so much more respect than hers ever had. The Bennett family loved each other, it was obvious. She wanted something like that; she wanted a mother who could always remember her name and siblings who noticed tears in her eyes. But that was the Bennett's, not them.
She wanted to stop it, what her family had been trying to do for hundreds of years. It didn't make sense to her, it wasn't fair. She didn't know how though.
She ran her fingers along the slightly scorched walls- she knew her brother had done it to scare off the Bennett's or anyone else but it looked pathetic to her. Her entire family since the very beginning of this obsession with the Bennett's had been pathetic.
It shamed her to think that not a single one of them had been intelligent or mature enough to stop it. They'd all just let it go on. It wasn't going to last much longer though, Anastasia was sure of that. She would stop this silly thing before someone got hurt.
She would stop it before Angus got hurt.
The Gryffindor Common Room for the first time for as long as Remus could remember was completely empty. He wasn’t quite sure why as classes for the day were over and there was no Hogsmeade trip or Quidditch Game but it was fair to rare for him to worry about for much longer. Instead, he happily sat down on the most comfortable couch and pulled out his book with everything that had happening he’d hardly had the time to think, let alone sit down and read. Therefore he was eternally grateful as to whatever was keeping all the Gryffindors busy.
“Hello handsome” Remus chuckled softly and looked up to see Miranda leaning over the couch; she placed a kiss on his forehead.
“Hey” he replied with a smile, motioning for her to come and sit beside him. She smiled too as she plopped herself down. She reached over and placed a light kiss on his lips before burying herself in his shoulder. “Do you know where everyone is?” he asked, throwing to his book to the side- there was no point trying to read when Miranda was around, he’d get far too distracted.
“Nope” she whispered, her voice muffled by his shoulder. He smiled down at her and pulled her closer to him.
“You want to go for a walk?” Remus asked and Miranda nodded in response, the pair of them laced their fingers together before disappearing through the portrait whole together.
Some minutes later they had started to make their way towards the Owlery- Miranda walking a little bit in front (her energy had kicked in by now) and Remus a few inches behind when from the top of some stairs they were passing came a yelp.
Before either of them really had a chance to be startled, Remus found himself lying on the floor- a headache forming where his head had apparently hit the floor. With a groan, he realised the girl lying on top of him.
“Oh, Gravity works” A moderately surprised voice from the top of the stairs said.
“Uh...Hello” he said, still slightly confused with what had happened. The girl above him blushed deeply, and stood up.
“I’m sorry” she breathed, smoothing over her bright red jumper and pushing her glasses back on the bridge of her nose. “Oh, you’re Ramus right?” The girl asked, her eyebrow arching slightly.
“Remus, actually” he corrected with a small smile to the girl. She apologized again but he stopped her. “You’re Coralie’s friend right?”
“I suppose you could say that, we’re not best friends though yet because we still have awkward silences and best friends don’t have awkward silences, they just have comfortable ones” she finally stopped her fast paced rant to take a breath. “I’m Sarah Barrow” she smiled, sticking her hand out for Remus to shake. He smiled back at her and shook her hand softly.
“You’re friends with Tyler Angelo too, aren’t you?” Miranda cut in with a chuckle. Sarah nodded, though she seemed reluctant for a while.
“Sometimes I’m not entirely sure why” she replied pensively, staring up at the stairs she’d fallen from where Tyler was standing as he recited a poem that none of the three other teenagers had ever heard before. “Are you alright though?” Sarah asked, turning back to Remus who chuckled and rubbed his head a little.
“Just a bump” he assured her, though the pounding in his head was getting worse and worse with every minute.
“I’m really sorry” she said again, her eyebrows furrowing. “My wonderful friend up there decided it would be a good idea to ram me from the top of the stairs” Remus and Miranda both laughed at her sarcastic tone, before she half curtseyed to them and ran back up the stairs.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” Miranda asked when the two Ravenclaw’s disappeared, Remus nodded, deciding that he was going to ignore the pounding in his head...he’d be fine.
“Come on, let’s keep walking” he said, pulling her along as they continued to head towards the Owlery. She complied, though she still wasn’t totally convinced with her boyfriend’s answer.
Within minutes they made their way through the mess that was the Hogwarts’ Owlery. With his headache not easing up at all, Remus leant against the wall and closed his eyes slightly. A few seconds later he was surprised as a cold hand covered his forehead, he reluctantly opened his eyes to see Miranda staring at him with worried eyes.
“I really think you’ve got concussion or something” she frowned and Remus shook his head, or at least tried too. “Come; let’s get you to the Hospital Wing”
“I’m fine” Remus tried to tell her, but she ignored him completely- forcing him to climb down all the stairs again. Needless to say, Remus wasn’t feeling very well nor was he very happy with her for dragging him all the way up there and then back down again in the space of five minutes.
Another five minutes later, Miranda half pushed him into the Hospital Wing and had him sitting down on one of the beds. She disappeared off to find Madam Pomfrey, leaving him to stare up at the roof until she returned a minute later.
“What happened to him exactly Miss Perry?” He heard Madam Pomfrey ask- his headache was making it more and more difficult to focus on what was being said. He saw Madam Pomfrey disappear again before she returned with a bluish potion; Remus quickly swallowed all of it and rested his head back on the pillow. “Better Mr Lupin?” she asked, placing the empty vial on the bedside table. He nodded slightly in reply and she smiled, moving to check on the only other occupant of the Hospital Wing.
A while later, Remus was restored to full health and Madam Pomfrey was bottling a few other potions for him to take back to his dormitory and take whenever he was feeling unwell again at any time.
Lying down in the Hospital Wing for an hour or so had given him time to think. Think about Miranda and what he was. He wanted to tell her more than he had ever wanted to tell anyone about his full-moon tendencies ever…Even more than he had wanted to tell the Marauders all those years back.
How would she react? Would she run screaming and never look at him again? He didn’t know whether he could ever handle that. She meant something to him, and there was that feeling in his gut that told him he could trust her with anything, that he could trust her with this. With that feeling deepening in his stomach and placed at the very front of his mind, he knew what to do.
“I need to tell you something Miranda” he started in a half whisper, his eyes searching Miranda’s face nervously. The feeling in his gut faltered for a minute, what if this was the last time he’d ever get to look at her properly? At least without seeing a disgusted or horrified look on her face.
“I’m listening” Miranda responded calmly though there was an uncertain look in her eyes. Remus sighed, it was now or never but the feeling was still gone.
“There’s something very wrong with me” Miranda furrowed her eyebrows instantly, her hand reaching over to touch Remus on the arm. “I don’t blame you if you running away screaming after I tell you this”
“I wouldn’t” Miranda whispered and Remus smiled softly at her. He took a deep breath and stared her directly in the eye. That feeling had come back, he felt as if he could get up on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and scream his confession for her and he wouldn’t care.
“I’m a werewolf”
Authors Note: Okay, I have a feeling some people might say that the whole Remus telling Miranda thing was too quick but I’d like to mention that they’ve been together for fifteen chapters which would be a couple of months- I think it’s reasonable.
Now that’s cleared up, I’m currently doing NaNo at the moment but I am actually finishing this story so updates will possibly be more frequent. Thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are from Sweeney Todd and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Without you all these years, I'll never know!
How delectable!
Also undetectable!
Ripping open the letter she’d been sent by Coralie, Marcelle smiled down at the familiar script of her youngest daughter. Despite her two younger children had been attending Hogwarts for a couple of months now, she still wasn’t completely used to having them gone yet (though she doubted she ever would get used to it). She was thankful for every letter they sent home whether it was essay length or just a few lines, they could always make her smile. Carefully she pulled out the letter and began to read it.
Dear Mother,
I’m sorry I haven’t had much time to write- I’ve been so busy with all of my classes but I’ve finally had time to sit down and write to you. I miss you so much, I wish we could just pop home and see you now. I know Angus misses you too; he’s busy too with his friends lately. I met a few of them and saw Azure again; they are very kind and seem to be aiding him along with adapting to life at Hogwarts.
I’m going well too. All the girls are really kind and are always checking up on me whenever something is wrong- it reminds me so much of Emma and home. I’ve made a few new friends recently too, Sarah and Tyler their names are. There are in a different house to me but in the same year- I mentioned them at Christmas I think, they both sent me cards?
I’m enjoying school all in all and both Angus and I are very well. How is everything at home? Once again, I miss you and please say Hello to everyone.
Love Coralie.
Marcelle smiled, folding the letter back up and placing it back in the envelope-she had started collecting all the letters from both Angus and Coralie during their time at Hogwarts so that one day they could all look back on them and remember the times- it was one of Marcelle’s favourite things to ever do.
Placing the envelope into the little box that she had bought specifically for that reason, she threw on her light dressing gown and headed downstairs. She figured it was still far too early, being only eight o’clock in the morning, for either of her two remaining children to be up but she was pleasantly surprised to see both Violet and Jacob- eyes wide open sitting crouched over something in the living room.
"Good Morning sweethearts" she said, she had apparently shocked both of them as they half jumped out of her skin upon hearing her voice. They quickly regained their composure, both flipping around at the same time to respond with the same pleasantries.
“Morning mother” they said in unison, before turning their backs to her again. She saw Violet whisper something furiously and Jacob pick up whatever they had been studying and shoving it in his pocket.
“What was that?” she asked subtly, she knew it was highly unlikely that they’d tell her the truth straight up but they could always entertain her with their petty excuses.
“Nothing important, just a letter from Cora” Jacob replied, he had always been the better liar out of the two of them- Marcelle figured he inherited it that trait from his father. Marcelle nodded calmly, letting the two of them believe they’d made their way out of the question when she shot back.
“Funny, she didn’t mention anything about a letter to you two in the letter I just received” Violet paled slightly- it was clear they hadn’t expected this.
“Maybe she forgot?” Violet added, trying to regain her composure but was failing terribly. Marcelle figured that she’d had her fun; whatever they were crouching over wouldn’t have been that important- otherwise she’d know about it. With a nod, she headed towards the kitchen, leaving the other two to their own devices.
Waving goodbye to her little brother’s friend- Briony, whom she had walked down to the Great Hall with, Coralie paused and looked around a little. Considering it was rather early in the morning- at least that’s what the rest of the girls thought, the Hall was quite filled with students. In fact, to no real surprise- the Gryffindor table was the emptiest.
Noticing that not even one of the Marauders were at breakfast, Coralie instead made her way over to the Ravenclaw table to sit with Sarah and Tyler.
“Still here Bennett?” Nathaniel commented as she passed him, she wanted to turn around and say something in return but the fact he was sitting alone, far away from the rest of his house was enough for her.
“Morning Sarah” she said, plopping herself down on the seat across from her two Ravenclaw friends. “Tyler” she nodded in which he responded with a big wave before continuing to shove his face with a sandwich of some kind.
“Morning” Sarah responded- staring at her friend is disgust before she shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Good ham sandwich?” Coralie chuckled and Sarah joined in as Tyler wiped his hands on his uniform as he finished off the sandwich.
“I don’t like ham sandwiches” he said in response as calmly as she had ever heard him speak. Coralie raised an eyebrow in reply , she could remember quite clearly him telling her that he loved ham and sandwiches and most of all, the loved ham in sandwiches. Despite this, both girls knew that there was no point trying to disagree with Tyler- that would just land them in a pickle.
“I saw you talking to Nathaniel Peakes back there” Sarah said nonchalantly, clearly deciding that now was a good time to change the subject.
“Are you friends with him?” Coralie asked, picking at her nails as Sarah smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, he’s pretty awesome” Tyler however scrunched up his nose and Coralie couldn’t help but want to agree with him.
“He is a boorish, narrow minded, corpulent scum sucking, rump fed runion and an idiot!” he yelled, causing multiple people to turn around and stare at the three of them- including Peakes. Though Sarah looked like she wanted nothing more than for some dragon to fly through the window and eat Tyler on the spot, he instead glared at Nathaniel. “That’s right! I’m talking about you...my archiest of arch enemies!”
“Dear Merlin” Sarah whispered, burying her face into her hands. Coralie didn’t know how quite to respond to something like this, she certainly didn’t want to take Peakes’ side but on the other hand Tyler was perhaps...a little out of control.
“You know what?” she said, pushing herself up from the Ravenclaw table and sending her friend’s a little wave. “James can came in so I need to go talk to him” she quickly made an escape back to the Gryffindor table and slipped next to James who had been watching the scene with wide eyes- he wasn’t quite used to the madness of Ravenclaw’s that Coralie knew.
“How are you friends with those people?” he asked, staring at Tyler like he’d grown an extra head. Coralie shrugged her shoulders and they both turned their backs to the table.
“I ask myself the same thing” she whispered, the two of them falling into a comfortable silence as they began to eat their breakfast- Tyler had started to scream poetry at Nathaniel now who was rolling his eyes.
“I have my reasons to hate you, though none of them are reasonable” Sarah nodded in agreement as Tyler continued. “I would easily kill you, in fact the idea’s feasible, One of the reasons I hate you, is you see things differently. I say Pot-A-Toe, You say Pot-Ar-Toe, Wait, Who actually says Potartoe...What a stupid saying, Anyway know that I hate you, I hope you enjoy your "rose" scented Shampoo!”
“What’s up with Angelo?” Sirius asked as he joined the pair of them, he didn’t look nearly as freaked out as James had.
“He doesn’t like Peakes” James shrugged in response, stuffing some bacon into his mouth- Coralie wondered if it was an English boy thing, because she’d never seen a French boy ever eat like that.
“Got someone on my side then” Coralie stared at Sirius with disbelief.
“One, Trust me on this- Tyler is not on your side and Two, what do you have against Peakes?” she asked, leaning over the table and whispering furiously at him.
“I just meant that not everyone sees Peakes like you do” he replied in a casual tone and Coralie scoffed, taking her elbows off the table and leaning back again.
“And how do I see Peakes?” James bought his hand to his hair, clearly realising where a conversation like this was going to go but he did not interfere probably out of fear of getting caught in the middle.
“You think he’s the best thing to ever happen to this world don’t you?” Sirius spat, his eyes widening with anger. “Just the same as Barrow” he commented, using his hands to point at Sarah who was trying to calm Tyler down still.
“Sarah doesn’t think that and I can assure you that Peakes is in fact one of my least favourite people in the world” Coralie swung her legs over the seat and stood up. “You, however, beat him for that title” The two boys watched her walk away before turning back to each other, James ran his fingers through his hair and shot his friend a look.
“What?” Sirius snapped and James shook his head knowingly.
“You didn’t half screw that up” he quirked an eyebrow at his friend.
“Shut it” Was Sirius’ reply as he stared moodily down at his food.
As Angus made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room after spending most of the night hanging out with Azure in the library, his mind was racing a mile and minute. Though he’d been trying to hide and ignore it for the past couple of months he could finally admit to himself that he indeed had it bad for Azure Simons. Next step, admit it to someone else.
It wasn’t the only thing on his mind though- as well as trying to decode absolutely everything the Hufflepuff said to him and wondering whether she felt even the smallest non-platonic feelings for him, thoughts of his older sister also occupied his mind a great deal of the time.
He was worried about her, not just because of this thing with these crazy Millen family members but more with her change in environment. Just before Christmas she’d been happier than Angus had seen her months, she’d settled in England, had a boyfriend that she was smitten with and had many more friends that seemed to want to stick by her through everything than Angus could count on his fingers and toes. But now, she looked like she wanted nothing more than to go home to France and return to the lives they had been living before all of this had happened. Back to her best friend, Emma and her other school friends whom she had known since childhood.
Angus wished for nothing more than to be able to see this happen for his sister. He wanted her to be happy even if that meant packing everything back up and leaving again, but they couldn't. It was too dangerous now.
Pushing the portrait open, he made his way through the common room, nodding at James who was furiously scribbling down what Angus figured to be Quidditch plans- he'd never quite understand that game even if Azure tried to convince him otherwise. It just didn't make sense to him.
Then again, he wasn't an overly sporty person- no one in his family was. He figured as he spent most of his childhood inside reading books with Coralie that was why, and it was the exact same reason that the two of them were so close.
He was grateful for this, one hundred percent grateful that he had become so much closer to Coralie than anyone else in his family. She was someone he could always rely on no matter what was happening in her own life, she was his rock...forever.
Angus wished desperately that he would be the same for Coralie, despite being younger than her, he wanted to be the little brother that she told everything and her shoulder to cry on not the little brother who would always just be that. He wanted to be strong and he wanted to be noticed.
Coralie had always told him that girls liked sweet and sensitive guys like him, would that mean that Azure could possibly fancy him half as much as he fancied her? He certainly hoped so. Getting into his pyjamas, he pulled out his favourite book from his side table and slipped into his bed.
“Hey Angus” One of Davies’ twins- Matthew said, as he too hopped into bed- Angus found Matthew, or Mattie as he preferred, easier to relate too than his identical twin Ryan because quite simply, he was tad more studious like Angus rather than a trouble maker. Evidentially, Ryan reminded him of Jacob right down to the fact the both of them played guitar religiously...at ridiculous times at night, like for example- three thirty am. Needless to say Angus was not a happy camper when he had been awoken by the constant three-chord strumming of his roommate.
“Hey Mattie” Angus replied after a few seconds, leaning his book face down on his knees- he could tell that his friends wanted to chat about something.
“Do you think Briony likes anyone?” he asked, and Angus stopped to think for a moment. To be quite honest with himself, he’d never really given it any thought whatsoever. Sure, Briony was an amazing girl but he could only see her as friend.
“I’m not sure, I suppose she makes googly eyes at Lupin sometimes” Angus answered- he knew where Mattie wanted to go with this conversation but Angus didn’t know the answer and he always thought it would be better to hear a lie than to hear an ‘I don’t know’. At least that’s what one of Angus’ childhood friends- Sophie, had told him. Mattie sighed, shuffling down in his bed which Angus quickly copied as the lights switched off.
Why did one’s first love sting so much?
A werewolf. That’s what he had told her just a few days before. Remus Lupin was a werewolf. She’d pretended to be okay with it, hell, she’d been okay with it at that moment but now, now something was clicking in her mind.
She liked him, a lot. She didn’t love him yet though, as terrible as it sounded in her mind. He was beyond sweet to her, always trusted her with things and made her feel like she was worth everything in the world. Could she trust him though?
It explained everything, his disappearances once a month that Miranda had realised were also on full moons- she could hardly believe she had missed it originally. It had been so obvious, so directly in front of her eyes and yet she had been so oblivious to the dark secret that her boyfriend was hiding. Did it really change anything between the two of them?
No, it didn’t change a single thing between them. Maybe she didn’t love him yet, but she sure did like him a lot. She knew he’d be heartbroken if she hated him after this, he had trusted her enough to tell her about his big secret and she couldn’t just leave him now. And so her mind was made up, she was staying with him.
She smiled a little to herself, who had she been kidding? Thinking she could actually leave Remus for once and all?
“You look happy Mir” Kiki noted, joining her on the bed. Miranda chuckled and leant her head on her friend’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I am”
Authors Note: As I said in the last chapter, I’m doing NaNoWriMo at the moment as well as juggling exams so the time between chapters will vary depending on what’s happening. The next chapter is finished already so it depends on my exams and etc. Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling. The lyrics below are from Michael Buble and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know
“I can’t believe our sixth year is over in a week already” Alice commented, and the rest of the girls agreed instantly. The year had flown past so quickly that both students and professors were asking where it had gone.
“And then we’ll be seventh years” Marlene added, her eyes widening to emphasis her point.
“Head of the school” Kiki said coolly, pulling on her stockings and almost falling into her trunk as she slipped.
“God knows Dumbledore will rue the day” Lily muttered to Coralie who chuckled, however Kiki had heard and threw a pillow at the redhead.
“Especially when he puts you head of the entire students, he’ll have little firsties begging to go home when they first encounter you” Kiki joked and Lily stuck out her tongue in response.
“Real mature Lils” Coralie commented, pulling her jumper on over her head. Marlene snorted and threw her book bag over her shoulder- most mornings she was always the first one ready despite the fact that Mary woke up at six every morning.
“Who will be ready next?” she asked, carefully eyeing each of her friends while they laughed. Marlene had made a habit of making games of things in the mornings in order to get her friends to get ready quicker. It entertained Coralie to see how Mary would always rush to try and beat Kiki, just so she could annoy her about it for the rest of the day.
Slipping on her shoes, Coralie yelled “Me!” and was then engulfed into a celebratory hug by Marlene.
“See you guys at breakfast then” Lily called, grabbing her book bag and following Marlene and Coralie out of the room. The three girls quietly made their way down to the Great Hall, passing the Marauders in the Common Room who looked beyond exhausted.
“Morning James” Coralie smiled as she passed him, he smiled weakly back at her before croaking out a ‘good morning girls’ back.
“He seems tired” Marlene commented casually, her eyes staring at Coralie as if she knew something. Coralie shrugged her shoulders in response- James did look tired, so did Peter and Sirius though. She figured they’d been up all night working on a prank or something, Remus being the sensible one who had actually gone to bed.
“Yeah, suppose he does”
Classes had finished for the day, finally, and Miranda tiredly made her way to the Hospital Wing. She couldn’t have been gladder for being Friday afternoon. Last night had been a full moon, the first full moon that she’d known the truth about Remus for. She had promised herself to go and visit him the moment her last class- Potions, had been dismissed. And so, that was exactly what she was doing.
She’d lied and told Kiki, whom she’d been making her way back to the Common Room with that she wanted to head to the library- she knew Kiki would never want to be caught dead in the school’s library unless it was for a quick snog and even then, she’d prefer to be hidden under an invisibility cloak or something. She felt terrible for lying to one of her oldest friends but it was to protect Remus, everyone thought he was visiting his sick mother like he did once a month.
“Hello Miranda” Madam Pomfrey said as she entered the Hospital Wing. She had spent a great deal of time in the Hospital Wing- she wanted to become a healer and therefore Madam Pomfrey had agreed to give her a few tips now and again.
“Is Remus in here?” she asked, her brown eyes searching the wing. The matron nodded; slightly shocked by the fact Miranda knew but quickly regained herself with a smile.
“It’s so lovely to see him trust another person to tell. I was always worried he wouldn’t” she explained, pulling the curtains back on the bed that Remus occupied.
“Thank you” Miranda said, sitting down on the empty chair next to the bed. He looked worse than she imagined, but somehow he also looked better. There were new scars on his arms, but no new ones on his face. He was asleep, completely dead to the world around him.
Miranda stared down at him, a sad smile on her face as she watched him lie completely still. Seeing him like this, with all the scars and bruises, just made her want to become a healer even more. She wanted to help him, she wanted to help people like him- he deserved it, they deserved it.
No one should run and hide from the innocent werewolves like Remus, sure- there were ones like Greyback who deserved to rot in hell, but not him- he deserved everything that a normal human being would get because that’s what he was normal.
For some time after that thought came to her head, she continued to stay by his side until he awoke an hour or so later.
“Miranda?” he asked, rubbing his eyes as if he believed he was imagining her. She smiled solemnly at him, placing her hand on his arms.
“Hey” she whispered and he smiled up at her, rolling onto his side so he could look at her more closely. “How are you feeling?” Miranda asked, squeezing his arm softly.
“Better, now that you’re here” he replied with a small smile and she chuckled in response. “But honestly, better than I usually do”
“That’s good” she said, kissing his forehead- the pair of them fell into a comfortable silence before Remus weakly interrupted it.
“I was so scared” he whispered, pausing for a moment as Miranda grabbed onto his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I thought you wouldn’t be here when I woke up, I thought you would have owled your parents and demanded they come and pick you up and move you somewhere else, just so you could get away from me”
“I’m here” she replied in a whisper, resting her elbow on the edge of the bed. He nodded weakly at her, squeezing her hand back. “I’ll always be here” she added.
Groaning, James rolled onto his side- desperately trying to remove the pain on his back. It had been a rough night last night- none of the Marauders had been expecting it be this bad after Remus had come clean to Miranda about his ‘furry little problem’. But maybe that was exactly why it was so bad, she’d excepted him- he had told them, absolutely confused the hell out of Remus but she had. She couldn’t have had second thoughts though could she?
James had known Miranda for six years and not once had he ever seen her judge anyone for who they were. She was the one of the kindest people he knew- always smiling and laughing; she knew how to make people feel like they were worth something.
Peter was always slightly left out of everything- James knew of some people who thought Peter was a joke of a Marauder but James believed otherwise, Miranda believed otherwise. She’d taught Peter to ignore all the taunts of the Slytherins- they weren’t worth getting upset over. She gave him confidence.
It wasn’t just with Peter though that she was free of judgement. He’d done horrible things to his best friend last year- he couldn’t even look at himself for months and he still hadn’t completely forgiven himself. He was weak and everyone knew it, but she didn’t care.
She’d told him that it wasn’t all his fault, Shelena and Sirius had been rocky for months. Hell they’d always been rocky. Miranda had told him that Sirius would forgive him, it might have taken him a while but she was right- and because of that he’d always have respect for her.
He knew she’d accept Remus, no matter how long it took her. What was between the two of them was far too special to ever end.
Something had happened though, otherwise Remus wouldn’t have been so upset last night and James wouldn’t be sporting a massive bruise across his back from where the werewolf latched out. It seemed one-sided, knowing Remus he was just worried about Miranda jumping out of somewhere and declaring it all a joke- that she thought he was an unlovable monster- that would kill Remus.
James knew Miranda would never do such a thing and even if she were to, it would be more caring. James sighed, scrunching his face up to ignore the pain that was spreading across his back again. He fell back onto his back- too tired to care anymore and fell asleep in seconds. Not even Peter’s loud snoring could wake him.
A week later, Coralie and the rest of the Hogwarts students found themselves on the train headed for London. The year ended on a high note, at least for Gryffindor, they had won the House Cup- although Coralie was surprised they had any points left after the trouble the Marauders and Kiki got into. Nonetheless, she was still quite happy with the win- especially when she saw Peakes’ distaste.
She was glad for the school year to be over as a whole. No more classes, no more hearing ‘mudblood’ comments thrown at Mary and Lily, no more Sirius, no more Nathaniel. No more anything until the end of summer. It sounded good. It sounded better than good- Coralie couldn’t wait to get home and be free from Hogwarts.
Sure, it was amazing there- like a second home. But it would never be home to her. Home wasn’t in England at all; Home would always be France even if, as much as it killed her to say, she couldn’t go back. Not yet anyway, maybe not ever. At least, not until this whole Leo situation was figured out and dealt with. She had no clue when that was going to happen though or how. It’d been bugging her for a few weeks now; Jacob was planning something- that was what mainly scared her.
Her brother could be Slytherin material, Sly and sneaky about the way he went along with his plans. He’d always been like that, since a child when he’d played tricks on their parents and their other siblings. Luckily, Coralie had never come under the firing range of any of his pranks but she’d witnessed all the pranks being played on Violet, and that had been enough for her.
She almost felt sorry for Leo with the sort of things Jacob was going to come up, matched with Allisyn’s intelligence and Violet’s bitchiness then he’d have no chance whatsoever. Who was she kidding though? He deserved to be destroyed and contained in the way the three elder Bennett would make it happen. Coralie was just grateful that Angus hadn’t wanted to join in- there was no doubt her little brother could start World War Three if he wanted to.
“You ready to go home?” Mary asked, interrupting her thoughts. Coralie nodded, she felt bad but she’d hardly spent any time with Mary recently. The latter had always been so busy with Cory- even now, she was sitting on his lap comfortably, their fingers laced. It was cute, that was for sure but Coralie felt like there was no point in romance at the moment.
“I sure am” Alice grinned with the same bright smile that had been on her face for days. For Alice, holiday breaks meant that she got to see her boyfriend- Frank Longbottom, who had graduated the year before and though Coralie had never met him due to this fact, she’d heard so much about him that it didn’t feel like it.
She knew he was training to be an auror under ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody- who Coralie had heard to be quite strict. He was said to be overwhelmingly nice- all the girls had agreed the moment Lily had said those words and they all believed he was perfect for Alice. Coralie thought that he indeed sounded like it and she had been quite excited when she’d been invited to meet him in the holidays.
“Of course you are, you get to see lover boy” Kiki teased, smoothing out her flowery dress that could had been shocked to see her in. She had known Kiki for almost a year now and never had she once seen Kiki willing wear a dress- the latter even complained about having to wear her school skirt. “While Cora, Lils and I are all stuck at home with no boyfriends and nowhere interesting to go, unlike you Marlene” Marlene chuckled in response.
“I will send you all postcards from Spain” The girls all sighed in agreement- Marlene’s parents had let her pick any country in the world to visit during the holidays and she had picked Spain,, the rest of the girls were insanely jealous of her.
“Why aren’t you going back to France or something?” Cory asked- it was the first time in weeks that he had actually spoken to her. Alice sent Coralie a knowing smile, she was the only one Coralie had told about anything that had happened at James’ party. Coralie was stuck for words; it wasn’t because it was Cory asking the question but rather because she had absolutely no idea how to respond to that question.
It wasn’t like she could simply say ‘because the crazy older brother of my ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend who used to be friends with multiple people in this compartment hates me and is possibly try to kill me, oh and it’s busy this time of year’. That made her sound completely psychotic and a little bit like Violet when she was in a terrible mood.
“Uh...” Coralie spluttered, staring at one the girls desperately to see if they could cut her over and try to explain instead- they all shrugged their shoulders at her. She glared a little at them before turning back to Cory, “Our family’s visiting us?” she finally managed to get out. She was half surprised with all her uncertainty that it had made any sense whatsoever but Cory seemed to be content with the answer.
“What about you Miranda? What are your plans with Remus?” Lily cut in; it made Coralie want to glare at her even more, of course now she could come up with something to relieve the tension of the situation.
“We’ll probably just meet up in London a few times” Miranda smiled, pausing for a second before continuing. “He’s spending most of his holidays with the other boys; it’s apparently a tradition or something” Lily and Marlene both rolled their eyes while Kiki looked disappointed.
“You could have lied, let me be in love through you Miranda!” she stated with fake anger, Miranda rolled her eyes again and pushed Kiki softly on the shoulder.
“Whatever happened to Alex?” Mary cut in, her eyebrows raising at her friend in a curious way. Kiki frowned slightly. She hadn’t really told any of the other girls about Alex- she figured they had worked it out for themselves and just knew not to bring it up. It was like a silent agreement between the Gryffindor girls, they never bought up failed ‘conquests’ and they never bought up Shelena.
“Nothing, I’m sure he’s still alive somewhere with some bird” she replied shortly, feeling slightly angry with the other girls by now. She hated going home, more than anything in the world. She hated going home to see them- there was hardly a point, they were never there anyway and even when they were- they never noticed her.
“What about you Mary?” Alice asked, smiling brightly at her friend.
“I’m going home with Cory for a few days” she grinned, turning her head slightly to look at Cory who smiled softly- he didn’t seem as comfortable with the whole situation as his girlfriend did.
“Cute” Lily added and Mary beamed at her- clearly ecstatic to have someone agreeing with her. She then smiled at Cory again who looked over at Coralie, who looked at Alice.
“You know what? I need to say goodbye to Sarah and Tyler before we get to London- I’ll go do that know” Coralie said, nodding at her friends and she exited the compartment casually. Once she was a few steps away she began to quicken her pace until she was almost running. Reaching the girls’ bathrooms and changing area, she put her hands of either side of the basin and stared at herself in the mirror.
She took a deep breath- something catching in her throat before she rested her head in her arms. What the hell was going wrong with her lately? She felt stressed, for no particular reason and she wished, more than she had previously, to just be home already. She splashed her face with some water and tried to fix up her hair a little- she had a habit of pulling at it whenever she was nervous about something.
She decided to go and see Sarah and Tyler; at least that way she could spend as much time as possible away from that compartment. It took her a couple of minutes and she had searched through at least a quarter of the compartments of the Hogwarts Express when she finally found Sarah and Tyler’s compartment- she was glad for this fact as she got the chance to calm down a little. She didn’t need people asking questions.
“Hi” she said, sliding the door open as her two friends turned to smile and wave at her. “I thought I’d come and say goodbye to you before we got back to London”
“Well that’s nice” Tyler said shortly, turning his head to look back out the window- Coralie furrowed her eyebrows and this and looked to Sarah who sighed.
“Nathaniel was in here before” she explained, glaring at Tyler- he continued to ignore her though.
“I refuse to let you call him by that name, he deserves something more horrible like Frankenstein or something- even that’s too nice for him” Tyler added as Coralie sat down next to Sarah – the two girls shared a look before they began to ignore Tyler.
“Are you excited to be going home?” Coralie asked Sarah, the latter nodded enthusiastically.
“I miss my older brothers when I’m at Hogwarts” she smiled sadly, before asking Coralie the same question.
“Yeah, I love it here but I miss my family too” she nodded casually, smiling at her friend.
“Ah, the silence again” Sarah commented and Coralie sent her a weird look. “I’ve sort of got used to it now; it used to really bother me you see. Being quite a loud person and you being sort of the opposite but now, it’s okay” Coralie nodded, biting down on her lip slightly. Sarah was dear, honestly she was but sometimes, well- she had Tyler traits in her.
“What about you Tyler?” she moved on, smiling at the boy across from her. He seemed slightly less agitated now, at least with Coralie, the same couldn’t be said about the girls the two friends were sending each other.
“I’d rather stay at Hogwarts at least that way when I murder people in their sleep it’s slightly less obvious to it being me” he said simply before turning back to the window- Coralie raised her eyebrows at the person she called her friend, she wondered how the hell she hadn’t become insane yet. Then again, Tyler was a walking, talking example of ‘so crazy it might work’. Coralie couldn’t imagine him being sane in the slightest way- it was what made him...him.
Spending the rest of the train trip back to London with an insane guy and a ‘too sweet for words’ girls would be instantly better than being stuck in a compartment with her friend’s new boyfriend whom she’d be kissed by only a few months back. An hour later, the door slid open again- Coralie was too busy reading through her completely tattered, old copy of Emma.
It was until Tyler yelled out “Back, foul beast” that she even noticed that Nathaniel was sitting next to her.
“Hey Nate!” Sarah said enthusiastically- Nathaniel nodded casually at her before staring at Coralie.
“So what are you doing here Bennett?” he asked and Coralie frowned, staring at Tyler- hopeful that his dramatics would kick in and save her, but no such luck.
“I’m actually friends with Sarah and Tyler you see” she said shortly, picking her book back up and going back to reading. She heard him snort at her in response before he began to annoy Tyler.
“Didn’t know you even had friends Angelo” Nathaniel said teasingly at Tyler- the latter turned his attention back to the other occupants of the compartment.
“Clearly I do” Tyler replied after a minute- his voice was much calmer than Coralie had expected him to be. “What about you though, do you have any friends?” he shot back and the other three all were taken aback. His response had through them all off guard.
“Bennett’s my friend, aren’t you Bennett?” he teased, placing his hands over Coralie’s- she sent him and disgust look and pulled her hand away. “And Sarah too” he winked at Sarah who turned bright red and looked down at her feet.
“Just leave us alone Peakes” Coralie said, glaring at the boy in question. He chuckled slightly, rolling his eyes at her.
“Why don’t you go look at an Atlas and find your way home to France” he replied instantly, his eyebrows challenging her to respond with something just as witty- but she didn’t even get the chance.
"Hand me that frozen turkey; I'm ending this now." Tyler said, standing up and moving towards Nathaniel who was laughing so hard that he looked like he might cry.
“That is possibly the weirdest thing you’ve ever said Angelo, well done” Nathaniel said sarcastically, adding a little clap at the end of his sentence.
“Leave Peakes, before I make you into a meat pie and then Sarah, Coralie and I will eat you” Tyler added- Nathaniel sent him a weird look in response. “Or I’ll poke your eyes out with a potted cactus”
“You know what, I’ll see you later Sarah” Nathaniel said, leaving the compartment but not before sending both girls a wink.
“Hm...I wonder what human tastes like” Tyler said inquisitively, stroking his chin like he had grown a beard there. Sarah bit down on her lip before rolling her eyes.
“One, Ew Tyler. Two, You don’t have a beard” Tyler looked outraged at Sarah’s comment but Coralie just laughed.
“She lies! I do have a beard, she just can’t see it- Right Cora?” he said like he was a little child who had just been told Santa wasn’t real, but he still wanted to believe. Sarah sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead slightly.
“Why don’t I have a better best friend?” She asked Coralie who just shrugged her shoulders in response. Sensing something was going to happen, Coralie stood up from her seat with her book held tightly in her hands.
“I should get back to the girls- they’ll be wondering whether I’ve changed to Ravenclaw or something” she chuckled, smiling at her two friends.
“You could you know?” Sarah said seriously, her eyes pleading with Coralie- she figured Sarah didn’t want to be stuck with Tyler for the next year. Coralie smiled sadly at her before disappearing down the train again. It wouldn’t be long till they were home.
Authors Note: I feel like this is the quickest I’ve ever updated my stories and that feels kind of weird to me. I’m really thankful for the fact I decided to do this as NaNo after all otherwise there probably wouldn’t have been an updated until next year.
On that note, I don’t think I’ll be posting anymore chapters in November though I have the next couple finished as the last week of November will be an insane time for me. I should be posting all through December (until the staff break) and hopefully as quickly as these have been. Thank you for reading guys.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
A few hours later, Coralie collapsed back onto her own bed and sighed. Finally, she was home. Closing her eyes for a moment she took in the musky smell of her room- one hundred percent glad to be home. Pushing herself back off her bed, she moved her trunk which she had previously just dropped at the door to her bed where she began to unpack a few of the things she would need.
It felt so good to be at home, where she didn’t have to worry about running into people she didn’t want to see at all hours of the day. At home, she could avoid everyone and everything if she felt like it.
As she finally pulled out the last piece of clothing that was left in her trunk- it being her Gryffindor scarf, she let herself relax again. “Merlin, it’s good to be home” she whispered to herself, staring up at the roof.
After a while of lying still, staring up at the ceiling she finally rolled off her bed and left her room. She felt like a little bit of exploring after being away from home for the past six months- she was sure her mother would have changed something, somewhere.
Not even an hour later, she had indeed found a new row of pictures that her mother had hung up in the previously empty corridor. The pictures made her smile; every single one of them bought back happy memories to her.
The first was a simple one of her and Angus-laughing about something with each other before they turned to face the camera and smiled. The picture had been taken just a few days previous to them leaving France- when her aunt Giselle had come to visit. Giselle didn’t visit very often despite being Marcelle’s only sister, she was always disappearing off to foreign countries and then returning six months later with extravagant gifts for everyone. Whenever she did come back though, she made sure to make pictures of everyone which she’d then develop two copies of- one for Marcelle and one for herself.
The second picture was an older one that Coralie had really not expected to be hanging around. It was the entire Bennett family- Pierre, Marcelle who was pregnant with Angus, Allisyn, Jacob, Violet and Coralie. It was the beginning of the family splitting up, her father would leave the next day, and Allisyn was heading off to the local school at age 11, not eight months later Angus was born. Everything changed that year.
The next picture stung Coralie’s heart. It was the only picture her mother had of Allisyn, Haley and her late husband, Celestin. Her eldest sister had moved out and married by the time she was eighteen, by twenty one she already had her own daughter and then by a wicked twist of fate, not even a year after Haley’s birth- Celestin had died suddenly.
He was a sensitive topic in the family for years; even then it was difficult to mention his name without someone becoming upset. He’d been adored by the entire family for his constant happy smile and his caring nature. That was exact reason why her mother had put this picture up, Coralie was sure of it.
The third picture wasn’t anything different or surprising- it was just of the five siblings all standing next to each other. They looked happy, and that was all that really mattered. The fourth and final picture caught Coralie’s eye the second she glimpsed at it. It was old- a hand-painted portrait rather a picture. In the frame was a family of three- the mother with beautiful blonde hair and her two children- a girl with the same golden hair and a little boy with mousy brown hair.
The golden plaque underneath was what caught Coralie the most, it read ‘Vilette, Sylvie and Henri Bonnet’. It had to be Sylvie from the diaries Coralie had been reading- that would be the only thing that would make sense. With a final check over the painting to make sure that she wasn’t going mad and seeing things, Coralie half bolted down the corridor in search for her mother.
Her mind was running a mile a minute- the things she’d read completely taking over any other thoughts she could have had at that moment. “Two girls born in the same year, entwined by the blood of our families. To live as one and to die as one. Hear my words, Let this blessing be a curse” she whispered to herself, almost completely out of breath.
If anyone was going to know about this Sylvie, it was going to be her mother. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Before she could even scold herself for not thinking to ask, her mind replayed the same words that had been written on the first page of that book.
Two girls born in the same year- well at first thought that seemed to Coralie like they were talking about twin girls but the next line completely shot down that idea. Entwined by the blood of our families- families was the key word in that sentence, but what family was the other family?
Was anyone even still alive in that family? It was sensible idea that the other family could have died out. She brushed that thought aside for a moment, her mother could easily tell her that once she found her.
To live as one and to die as one- the line seemed perfectly simple but Coralie had a sickening feeling that there would be a catch of some kind. She knew her family, they could be damn sneaky about things when they wanted to be and this was definitely one of those things.
And the final words, hear my words, let this blessing be a curse. Coralie's grandmother had taught her everything she knew about the original magic and had told Coralie that those nine words had to used in order for a curse to become...well a curse.
Finally, Coralie could see her mother standing in the doorway of the living room- her back turned to Coralie as she talked to Violet about something.
"Mother" she called, so out of breath that she had to lean against the wall in order to try and catch her breath again.
"What's wrong dear?" Her mother asked, placing her hand over Coralie's forehead.
"The portrait you put up in the hallway" Coralie paused to take a big breath before pointing towards the direction she had run from. Her mother nodded- of course her mother would remember the exact dimensions where she put everything in the house. "The Bonnet's, who were they?"
"They were your father's ancestors over ten generations ago. The mother, Vilette was a witch- practiced the original magic and fought in the French Revolution" Marcelle said, staring at Coralie with a worried expression on her face. "Why is that important Cora?"
"I have her daughter's book- Sylvie, she talked about a curse" Coralie answered and Marcelle paled slightly before shooing Violet away and pulling Coralie up to her room where no one else could hear them.
"You need to listen very carefully Cora, and you can't tell any of the others what I'm going to say. Okay?" she said seriously, watching her daughter extremely closer. Coralie nodded- whatever it was that Coralie had found out, it was something big. "Vilette Bonnet put a curse over herself when she and a friend were burned at the stake for their doings in the Revolution. She cursed every girl that would be born into either of the families in the same year"
"Why?" Coralie asked but Marcelle brushed her off.
"No one can find out exactly what it does to the two girls but in every single generation any two girls born in the same year have died in the same year" Coralie frowned, she understood why her mother hadn't told her this at an earlier age but she didn't understand why the others hadn't been able to hear either. Unless there was something else.
"This has something to do with me, doesn't it mum?" she asked wearily, almost scared to hear the response from her mother's lips. Marcelle nodded solemnly before speaking in a very quiet voice.
"Yes, this has everything to do with you Coralie"
The soft drizzle of rain fell from the sky gently as Lily made her way through the streets she'd grown up in. Things had changed completely since she had been a little girl who wandered the streets with her big sister, Tuney.
For one, Petunia hated her with all of her guts now even if her mother tried to convince Lily otherwise. It was so obvious to her. Severus had turned out to be just like the rest of the Slytherins- she hated herself for thinking otherwise for so many years. And Shelena had turned out to be one of the worst, she'd ripped out Lily's heart multiple times but for some reason Lily had always forgiven her. But not anymore, she didn't need any of them. Not Petunia, Not Severus and especially not Shelena.
She deserved better. That's what Potter had told her, as much as she hated to admit it- she actually believed him for once. She'd looked after all three of them since her childhood and she'd risked everything for each of them but they never repaid her, they never said thank you, they never loved her back.
It broke her heart, it shattered it to the floor and she had absolutely no hope of mending it back together. But maybe Potter- maybe James had the chance to rebuild it. Would she let him?
She didn't know yet- he had changed so much since the Shelena fiasco. She figured he had to grow up and try and get his best friend back after what he had done with Lily's best friend. Shelena had tried to ruin everything but James had kept on fighting- Lily admired that.
Lily found herself passing her friend’s old house- Shelena had grown up just around the corner from her in an average house and her family had moved following the death of her father. No one had moved in since they left- although until Christmas break, Lily hadn’t even known about their move.
They’d gone back to France, nobody needed to tell her that- she had known the moment Coralie’s sweetheart revealed himself as Leo; it had to be Leo Millen. She didn’t understand why though, what the hell did Leo have against Coralie? Or rather against her family.
For as long as she had known Leo, he'd been a pretty normal guy. He went out to parties and came back slightly tipsy. He dated pretty girls and every girl wanted him. He'd always been nice to her- gave people detentions when they called her a mudblood. He was the perfect older brother- he'd always been more stable than Shelena.
What had gone wrong? Lily wondered whether it had something to do with their mother- Amelie, she had a habit for disappearing and then come back even more mental that when she left. Lily had always feared that her best friend would fall into the same trap. Had all three Millen children ended up like their mother?
It worried her that they'd grown up in such an environment. Could they ever just have a normal family with normal relationships? It was possibility that Leo could be jealous- Lily knew that the Bennett's had grown up completely different to the Millen's. They had money and love- two things the Millen lacked ever since their father had passed away.
Standing out the front of the old Millen house, she could sense that something was different. There was movement in the front window for a moment and a first Lily thought she was going mad, and then something moved again. Someone was there and Lily had a suspicion that she knew exactly who it was.
She stepped towards the front door, the curtains in the front window moved again and Lily could hear soft footprints running away. It had to be her- they had to be back. Coralie knocked on the front door lightly and footprints made their way back towards the door.
"Who is there?" Lily could hear Leo call from the living room. She found herself backing away from the front door very slowly and by the time she reached the sidewalk, she began to run full speed towards her own home.
This was bad, very bad. They couldn't be back; Shelena couldn't be back in England. It would ruin absolutely everything that everyone had worked on this year- her own scars were only just starting to heal.
As she reached her room, she collapsed onto her bed and did the only responsible thing she could think of doing- she owled James Potter.
There was something very wrong. It was obvious that afternoon when Coralie had run in, completely out of breath and their mother had pulled her away. It was even more obvious at dinner. Coralie’s cheeks were stained as if she’d been crying all evening- Violet was sure that she probably had been. Her sister was not a sook; she was stronger with dealing with most things than Violet herself was. And so whatever their mother had told the younger girl, it would have been something terrible.
The dinner table was completely silent- Violet knew her two brothers had also noticed that something was wrong. Angus- being the more logical of the two despite his young age just smiled at Coralie and started on his dinner. Jacob however, as always, was the act now, think later kind of guy.
“You look upset Cors” he commented, both Violet and Angus sent him warning looks that he completely disregarded. Coralie looked up from her plate, her eyes a little puffy; she then blinked a few times at Jacob who raised his eyebrows. “You okay?”
“Fine” she said distantly. Violet desperately wanted Jacob to drop the subject for everyone’s sake and go back to eating his dinner but she had no such luck.
“You don’t seem fine Coralie” he noted instantly- he’d really put his foot in his mouth now. The other three occupants of the table all sat in silence, watching what was certainly about to unfold.
"I said I'm fine Jacob" Coralie added a little more sternly than she had before. Marcelle sent her a pointed look which Coralie just shrugged her shoulders in reply to.
"I don't believe you" Jacob replied in a matter of factly tone. Coralie gritted her teeth together before pursing her lips. She ignored her older brother and turned straight to her mother.
"I'm no longer hungry. May I please be excused?" Marcelle nodded solemnly and Coralie thanked her, pushing her chair about before leaving the dining room.
"Great work Jake" Violet muttered, pushing her own food away before heading up the stairs after her little sister. She found Coralie in the library- it was one of her little sister's favourite places to hide from the world. "Hey" she whispered, sitting down in one of the armchairs.
"Hi" Coralie replied, not even turning around to look at Violet.
"Don't worry about Jacob" Violet added, leaning forward in the chair to try and catch a glimpse of her sister's face- mainly to see if she was crying or not. "You know how he is" Coralie nodded.
"It's not him I'm worried about Vi" she whispered before rubbing her eyes with the sleeves of her jumper. Violet frowned before motioning for Coralie to sit on her lap.
"I know" Coralie took a deep breath before sitting down on her older sister's lap and burying her head in Violet's shoulder. "Whatever it is, it'll be okay" Coralie let out a strangled sob and Violet hugged her closer.
"No, I don't think it will be this time"
Authors Note: Hey everyone! I finished NaNo this year but I still haven’t finished writing this story- I have got up to Chapter Thirty Eight though (as well as many later chapters and things for other fics). That means that, hopefully, I should be updating pretty frequently.
Though it’s a bit early to be thinking about it now, I feel I should mention that come February of next year, not only will I have been writing this story for two years but my updates will possibly become infrequent again.
Also, I’ve decided to get rid of the lyrics- finally. I realised I spent too much time trying to find them. Until next time, thank you guys for sticking by me so far!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Marcelle felt like someone had ripped out her heart and there was no way she'd ever get it back. She'd finally told her little girl about the secret that had kept her up almost every night since Coralie was born.
It had broken her heart the moment her mother had informed her of her little girl's situation and it broke her heart all over again when she finally came clean to Coralie.
Would she ever forgive her? Marcelle had honestly thought she was doing the right thing. She was too young to know and there was quite the possibility that she would never have to know.
But then everything changed. How could she be so stupid to leave that old book lying around where it could be picked up by any of her children? She wanted to hit herself in the face with the book repeatedly.
What if Angus had found it? How would see explain something like that to a fourteen year old? Granted, it wasn't much easier trying to explain it to a sixteen year old.
After she piled the dishes from dinner by the sink for her to wash in the morning, she made her way up the stairs- she didn't exactly know where she was going or what she was going to do so she let her feet carry her to the library.
She was about to search every single row for any book that she never wanted her children to see or read when she noticed Violet and Coralie asleep on one of the arm chairs. Violet had wrapped her arms tightly around her younger sister and Coralie's hair completely covered her face as well as half of Violet's.
Marcelle felt her heart warm up. The two of them hadn't really got along since they were tiny, unlike Marcelle and her own sister Giselle. They fought and complained about one another for years on end- surprising as they had once been inseparable.
Coralie had been the sweet one. The one who used to bake cookies and cupcakes with Marcelle and would run around the garden in princess dresses. She'd never really grown out of the expectation of having her own Prince Charming and a happily ever after.
Violet however had been quite the opposite. She was rougher, always willing to beat up any of the little boys who messed with Coralie and didn't care what a single person thought of her. She hadn't changed either.
In fact none of her children had really changed now that she thought about it. Allisyn was still beautiful and wise beyond her years even though she’d lost her husband at such a young age, Jacob still reminded her of Pierre every time he looked at her and he was still as caring as ever and even little Angus was still the sweet, innocent little one who was so much stronger inside than anyone could ever imagine.
She had changed though. She’d become everything she promised herself that she wouldn’t. As a young girl she had wanted to marry an attractive French man, whom she was desperately in love with, and sure that had happened but she had wanted to grow old with him- and look where that had disappeared to. She wanted sweet, perfect children and although they were in their own way- she didn’t want a single thing to ever go wrong for them. That’s what they deserved. She’d become the thing she feared most, she had become a liar.
The week following become one of a monotone experience in the Bennett household. Everyone was avoiding each other and even when they weren’t, the rooms were generally full of awkward silences. The house had been quieter than week than it had even been before.
Coralie was still moderately upset, though she promised herself that she’d forgiven her mother and completely understood where she was coming from, she wanted nothing more than to escape the house for as long as she possibly could. She tried to owl every single one of her Gryffindor friends, except from Sirius- though she was seriously considering it, but not a single of them had got back to her.
She worried that she’d done something wrong but she had absolutely no clue what she could have done wrong from her own bedroom. The next thought that came to mind was that her owl wasn’t delivering the messages, or was taking them to them to the wrong people. Or maybe everyone was just busy?
She thought about owling Sarah and Tyler, but she knew the two of them lived a few hours away from Leeds, in fact they lived all the way over in Blackpool- she figured her owl wouldn’t be up for such a long flight. And so she was stuck at home by herself.
Honestly, she wanted nothing more than to be at Hogwarts now- even though she’d been so desperate to leave less than a week ago now. Even better, she would have preferred to be in France. She’d even thinking about handing herself over to Voldemort just to get away, and that was big step. So perhaps that was a little rash- she wasn’t really up for dealing with the Cruciatus Curse.
With a sigh, she made her way down the stairs and out the front door. It was a nice enough day, quite sunny which was rare in itself and she knew that it was an easy way to avoid the rest of her family- they preferred to stay inside mainly, at least while they lived in England. Somehow, her mother continued to be able to keep the garden in good condition, nothing was overgrown and there were no weeds present whatsoever.
Coralie sat down on the little stone bench her mother had apparently bought sometime during their move to England- it definitely hadn’t come with them from France. She let her fingers run over the little patterns that had been carved into the sides. It was a calming motion for her, though the week she had had was anything but calm.
She leant her head back, letting her curls cascade down her back before she let out another sigh. She felt so bored being either stuck in her room and somewhere else- either way she had no company except for Shadow who occasionally would grace Coralie with her presence. Even then, an old cat wasn’t exactly the type of company that Coralie wanted all time
She wanted her friends, she wanted to be able to send owls to Lily, Alice and etc and actually get replies. She so desperately wanted to tell Lily about this curse- the one that her ancestors had placed over her entire family. The one that was going to untimely kill her- there, she had finally admitted it to herself. She was practically a walking time bomb just waiting for the other girl to do something that would threaten her life.
Coralie’s life would never be the same because of it- would she ever be able to have the family she dreamed about having as a little girl, knowing that if she had a girl that it could inherit the curse too? It broke her heart now to even thinking about doing that to her little girl as her mother had done to her.
She didn’t want to be heartless or a life ruiner, she wanted to be like her mother- or at least what she thought her mother was before all this. She wanted to be pure and trustworthy; she wanted to protect the people she cared about for as long as she lived. That was what Coralie had once believed her mother wanted too, and look how that blew up in her face.
Was her entire life a lie? It seemed like it to her, at least now it did- had her mother just been waiting around until the day the curse kicked in. Would she have ever told Coralie the truth if she had not found the book? She didn’t want to think like that, she loved her mother more than anything in the world and she always known that Marcelle would be someone she could always tell everything.
She couldn’t believe how her mother had lied to her. After she had told her everything- absolutely everything and the whole truth of it too. She could hardly believe what her mother had done. Coralie didn’t see herself as a hateful person, she tried to accepting of everyone and she tried, as hard as she could, not to hold grudges against people. Then again, she’d never been very good at that.
She wanted to forgive her mother, she honestly did and she spent the entire day previously sitting in her room telling herself that what her mother did was reasonable and it had worked. She believed in herself- what her mother had done was okay, sure it was perfect but still- she had tried. But for some reason, granted one that annoyed Coralie deeply, she could not bring herself to walk up to her mother and forgive her. Why? She had no idea.
“Don’t go around wanting to stab yourself in the leg with a knife sis” Angus commented dryly, climbing onto the stone chair and throwing his arm and her shoulders.
“No promises” Coralie responded, pursing her lips together and staring out into the garden before she turned to look at Angus. He’d grown up remarkably in the year- both physically and mentally, and although Coralie had always been proud of having him for a little brother- it made her even more proud to see just how much he had changed. And for the better, definitely.
“Don’t leave me here with them, I think I’d stab myself just to get away” She rolled her eyes at her brother’s attempt of humour, “Then again, maybe they’d actually talk if we both went and did that”
“I fear our death may not be worth breaking their silence” She replied dryly, ruffling her little brother’s hair a little. He glared at her in response and tried to fix his hair back up with nudging her in the stomach softly. “Trying to fix it up for Azure?” She teased, hugging her brother closely and kissing the top of his head in a sisterly way.
“Don’t see you fix yourself up for Peakes” He tried to break free of her grip but she only laughed. Though, she found herself slightly irked at the fact that everyone seemed to think there was something between her and Peakes- if it had been anyone but her little brother at that moment Coralie had no idea how she would have reacted.
“Don’t need to, I’m naturally gorgeous” Angus rolled his eyes at this the exact moment the words had come from Coralie’s lips. “You on the other hand” She teased, pausing for a moment to add an extra comment. “You need all the help you can possibly get” She poked her tongue out at him as he stared outraged at her.
“Why you little!” She giggled, standing up from the bench and running through the bushes while Angus chased her. The fact that she was a bit older and had longer legs gave her a little advantage over him.
“You’ll never catch me!” She chuckled, running down the narrow stone path that led into the back door of the house. Luckily for her, the back door was open and she able to slid through just before Angus reached the door- she turned the lock and ran as fast as she possibly could towards the stairs. She knew Angus would be disadvantaged by having to make his way back to the front door.
By the time she reached the second floor and had just darted around the corner, she heard the front door click open and then the sound of Angus trying to tiptoe across the floor. She leant back against the wall, hidden behind a column for when Angus made his way up the stairs. And soon enough he did, he paused at the top of the stairs before looking around- Coralie almost had to put her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
He frowned- shrugging his shoulders before making his way up to the second floor. Coralie smirked triumphantly before quietly making her way back down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she literally ran into her mother.
“Coralie?” Marcelle asked, her eyebrows furrowing as Coralie rubbed her arm where she’d collided with her mother. “What on earth are you doing?”
“I found you!” Angus suddenly yelled, appearing in the doorway before charging forwards at his sister. Without really having a second to think about what was happening, Coralie found herself being tackled into the couch. She giggled at first until her little brother began to tickle her- then her frantic scream crossed with begging’s of him to stop could be heard throughout the house.
"Angus, get off me" She called, her speech muffled by the pillow that was covering her face.
"Sorry, can't hear you- you got like a pillow in your face or something" He joked- Coralie rolled her eyes at this before looking over at her mother, begging her with her eyes to come and help her out. Marcelle smiled, moving towards her two youngest- Coralie thanked her with her eyes.
"Off my little girl" She said to Angus, picking him up and spinning him around in a circle before plopping him down on an armchair. "She's mine" Marcelle half screamed, moving into Coralie who was trying to escape.
And so the chase began, Coralie narrowly escaped her mother’s hands and ran up the stairs as fast as she could, only to be met with Jacob who picked up with ease and tossed her over his shoulder.
"I've got her now!" He cheered, lifting her up slightly and spinning her around like a trophy. He dropped her down again and then began to run from Marcelle and Angus who were chasing him up the second flights of stairs. Being the tallest one in the family gave Jacob an advantage- that was until Violet joined in with her dirty tactics.
Soon enough, Violet had got Coralie and although she was a tad smaller than the latter- she picked up her younger sister bridal style and darted down the hallway before Jacob even got off the floor.
"CHEATER!" Coralie could hear Jacob holler- the sound of his pounding footsteps following closely behind. Violet giggled, forcing Coralie to push the door open to her bedroom with her foot. "SHE CHEATED AGAIN!" Both of the girls could hear Jacob scream, pounding on the door with his fists dramatically.
The two girls both burst into fits of giggles, until Marcelle had reached the door and opened it with her wand. Coralie was about to make a run for it when she noticed a brown owl perched on her windowsill. Everyone else seemed to notice it too.
With a worried look sent over her shoulder at Jacob, Coralie opened her window and let the owl in. She untied the letter carefully- the owl even nudged her hand a little as if to tell her to hurry up. She unfolded the letter and began to read through it carefully, it wasn't from who she expected. In fact, never in a million years who she had expected him to write to her.
She raised her eyebrows- her family all waiting for her to speak but she couldn't form words yet.
"It's from Sirius" She continued to stare at the letter in front of her, Jacob let out a sigh of relief.
"Is he well?" Marcelle asked, moving to stand next to her daughter and try and read the letter over her shoulder. Coralie blushed a little but tried to hide it with her hair, she was unsuccessful though. "I'll take that as a yes" She smirked at her youngest daughter, using her hands to guide the other three out of the room.
Coralie took a deep breath and reread the letter for the third time.
Dear Coralie,
This is Sirius here. As in uh...Black. Yeah, Hi. I was wondering whether you were free at all these holidays, I know you’re probably spending some time with your family and friends so if you aren't then that's cool too but I was just wondering. If you are by any chance- free that is, would you like to meet up in London for a coffee or something? I'm pretty much free everyday so whenever.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Sirius.
Coralie felt like screaming to Merlin asking him what the hell had gone on. Instead she ran her fingers through her hair- a little trait she seemed to have picked up from James. She took another deep breath before setting the letter down on her bed. She stared at it for a little while before grabbing out some parchment and a quill off her desk and penning her answer.
When she was finished she stared at it again, reading over it once more.
Dear Sirius,
I'm actually pretty much free all holidays if you'd indeed like to catch up in London. The day is up to you- I'm okay with most days. It was lovely to hear from you and I shall await your reply.
Coralie.
She let out a sigh, folding up the letter and attaching to Sirius' owl before sending it off. What the hell was with Sirius' change in attitude? She knew there was no way she'd find out before they met up in London, she only hoped that this wasn't his indeed of a sick joke.
Three days later, after many letters and discussion of Coralie and Sirius's trip to London- they had finally agreed on a day, time and place. And then, the day had arrived in no time. To say that Coralie wasn't nervous would have been a lie. In fact she'd been shaking so much while she'd been attempting to button the blouse she'd decided to wear that Violet had to rebutton it for her when she came down the stairs.
"Nervous?" Violet teased, poking Coralie lightly in the stomach. Coralie just sent her sister a look- she figured Angus would be appearing any minute to tease her as well and though she loved her family dearly, she wasn't sure this was the best time for such teasing. "I'm just trying to make you feel better Cors" Violet added, drawing her sister into a tight hug.
"I know" she whispered in reply, before drawing back. She straightened out her clothes again, before smiling nervously at Violet who assured her she looked cute before taking her arm and disapparating. Once they appeared in a backstreet of London, Violet squeezed her sister's arm before she disappeared into a street by herself.
Coralie took a deep breath and made her way into the main streets. She was even more nervous than she had been at home- not that was really surprising or anything. She stopped for a minute, leant back onto a brick wall of a shop. She took another deep breath, stared down at her feet before she pushed herself away from the wall. She could do this.
She lifted her head up high, plastered a moderate smile on her face and went around the corner when she and Sirius had agreed to meet. He was already standing there- looking quite bored as he kicked a stone around.
"Sirius" She breathed, making her way over to him. He looked up and smiled at her- God, he looked good. She wanted to shake her head- as if to trying at shake that thought from her head but she figured she might look a little insane.
"Hey" He replied- he seemed calm, at least calmer than she was. "Thanks for catching up with me" She nodded in response, sending him a small smile which he returned.
"Is there a reason you wanted to see me?" she asked, as casually as she possibly could as they made their way through the London streets. He looked a little nervous now, somehow this made Coralie feel better- as if she now felt more comfortable at his uncomfortableness.
“Yes” he replied instantly as he stopped walking and pulled Coralie into a little side street. Her eyebrows raised slightly- surprised a little by the boy’s actions. “Do you still have feelings for me Coralie?” She blinked a few times in response, completely bewildered by the randomness of this topic. Did she still have feelings for him? She thought about for a moment before looking straight into his eyes.
"Yeah" she whispered in response. Her voice sounded about as weak as she felt.
"Can you give us another chance?" he said, his eyes filled with so much hope that Coralie thought was never possible. She said feelings for him, that was obvious to her now- in fact, she had probably never stopped liking him if she was completely honest with herself. Could she give him another chance though? That's all that really mattered and that exact point in time. Could Coralie Bennett give Sirius Black another chance?
She took a deep breath, he was desperately awaiting her answer- looking down at her, his expression was getting more and more worried with every minute. They could get back to what they had, all she had to do was say yes and then she'd have something back in her life.
Back in the life that was becoming more and more unstable every single day. Would Sirius make her life more stable? Or would he just make it worse? She was so scared, though that really wasn't a surprise to her. He could understand, he could make it better and tell her that everything would be fine.
Was it worth it though? Could she agree to forgive him while knowing full well that one day she could just die? It sounded silly, no one knew when they were going to die and people still took risks. Coralie didn't want to be one of those people who was so scared of dying that they forgot to live. But this curse, they didn't know what it could do to her.
She could lose all her memories, loose everything that she had ever wished for, believed in or wanted. She wouldn't be herself anymore, who would want her then? She sure wouldn't want herself. Who was she really without everything she'd ever worked for? No one, she was no one.
And then the question came back to her- still lingering in the air from the moment it had come out of Sirius' mouth. Did she forgive him or not? She found her mouth opening without even realising what she was doing.
"No" she whispered. Her answer cut the tense air between them finally. Sirius looked taken aback, she was sure that he'd though she'd forgive him and they'd get back together. She wanted to, oh how she wanted to.
"What?" He replied, though he was standing right there Coralie felt like he was ages away. He ran his fingers through his hair, obviously not happy with her reply.
"I'm sorry" She said, pushing herself off the wall. He stared at her, dumbfounded for a minute. "Something happened to me, and I just...I can't"
“Cora, I can help you” he pleaded, grabbing his hands in his own- she stared straight at him, unsure of what to say. “Even just as friends, whatever happened I’ll protect you- all of us will protect you” Coralie wanted to cry, she wanted to throw her hands around his neck and never let go but she couldn’t.
“I want to Sirius, I want to be able to tell you everything but I can’t” she let her gaze fall to the ground before she glanced back up.
“Well when you can, all of us will be waiting for you” Coralie smiled up at him solemnly, he placed a quick kiss on her forehead before he left her. Though she could hear what her mother would be saying if she ever found out, Coralie was grateful that he did leave her by herself. Merlin knows she needed some time to think.
Authors Note: This chapter is once again dedicated to my wonderful friend Keziah who is currently overseas, she told me that I needed to update lots while she was away and therefore, here we are.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one should be up very soon.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
The week had got surprisingly better after Coralie and Sirius’ visit to London. She was no longer stuffed up in her room by herself; instead her family had spent the past week in the living room playing countless games. They’d played every single board game they owned at least three times, they’d also played hide and go seek and even pin the tail on the unicorn multiple times.
It wasn’t until the fourth day when Coralie had woken up at a ridiculous hour that she realised just how many games they had played. The living room was covered in boxes and wizard chess pieces, it looked much like someone had tried to break into the house and steal something- in the process knocking every single thing off the shelves.
“Good morning” Marcelle smiled, making her way into the living room. She gracefully stepped over all the discarded things and made her way to the couch- placing the cup of tea she had bought in with her on the coffee table in front of her.
"Morning" Coralie responded, rubbing her eyes tiredly before following in her mother's path to sit beside her on the couch.
"It's such a mess in here" Marcelle commented, staring down at the mess before pushing a few things away with her feet. "Maybe our came today can be who can cleaner up this mess the fastest!" she said in a joking voice to which Coralie replied to with a chuckle. "I've been thinking Cora, that after everything you've been through this week alone that maybe you deserved a little break" Coralie raised her eyebrows at her mother slightly.
"What kind of break?" she asked, leaning towards her mother a bit more in anticipation. Marcelle chuckled and squeezed her daughter's hand softly.
"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to back to France for the weekend?"" Coralie felt like her heart had stopped. Her mother was actually giving her permission to go back to France?
"All of us?" Coralie replied, pursing her lips slightly. She adored her family for sure, but Jacob could be a little overprotective.
"No" Marcelle shook her head, smiling brightly at her daughter. "I'll let you go alone, but only for the one night"
"Really?" Coralie half squealed with excitement, she leant in to hug her mother as tightly as she could before her lips formed a big smile.
France...home. She took a deep breath, she'd been so afraid that she could never go home and now her mother was giving her the chance, even just for a night- it was still better than nothing. Granted, her mother didn't know about the whole Leo situation otherwise Coralie had a strong inkling that her mother wouldn't be letting her out of her sight let out to France. And for once, she was incredibly thankful for this.
"So what do you say?" Marcelle asked, a wide grin spreading across her face as well. She knew what her daughter's answer would be but it felt so much better if she was hearing it rather than imagining.
"Yes!" Coralie screamed with joy, hugging Marcelle once more. It warmed Marcelle's heart to say her little girl this happy about something that seemed so small.
"What's going on?" Angus said sleepily, appearing in the doorway with puffy eyes. He'd obviously been awaken by Coralie's screaming and Angus wasn't the kind of person who could go back to sleep after being woken up.
"I'm letting Coralie go back to France this weekend" Marcelle grinned, Angus' face fell slightly but he tried to keep it neutral so that his mother wouldn't get the wrong idea. He smiled weakly, pretending he was too tired to understand what was really going on- though this wasn't far from the truth. Marcelle smiled brightly again, heading towards the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to head back to France with Leo there and everything?” Angus asked, a nervous tone filling his voice despite the fact he brain still hadn’t completely awoken.
“I need to go back” Coralie responded solemnly, she paused for a moment before adding “I need to go home” Angus frowned in response, he understood where she was coming from- he wanted to go home too but was it safe?
“What’s Jake going to say when you tell him?” he whispered furiously and she stared down at her feet.
“It’s difficult Angus, but I need to go back. Just for a few days” Angus nodded lightly. He knew Jacob wouldn’t take her decision lightly, in fact he could imagine just how enraged he was going to be but he desperately hoped his brother would get over it quickly. Despite what the older members of the family though, Coralie was a big girl now and she had been taking care of things by herself for a long time before Leo came around.
“He’s not going to like it at all Cors” he replied quickly. She sighed a little and nodded her head in solemn agreement. He half smiled down at her- he, himself was a little annoyed about her plans, before disappearing upstairs.
Coralie could hardly believe her luck, somehow Jacob had agreed to let her go without hardly putting up a fight. And so there was Coralie, packed lightly for the night, standing at the train station and saying goodbye to her family. The train was supposed to arrive any minute and she’d made that point quite clear to her mother, but she insisted on stay until Coralie was actually on the train.
As the loud announcement came over the speakers that the train would be arriving in exactly a minute, Coralie turned to her mother and hugged her goodbye. “Have fun dear” she whispered into her ear, letting go of her so that Coralie’s siblings would have a chance to also say goodbye.
“See you tomorrow Cors” Violet whispered, for some reason Violet had been incredibly distressed over Coralie’s return to France even more than Jacob. Marcelle explained to her that it was only for the night and whispered in Coralie’s ear that Violet was simply jealous. If only, Coralie thought to herself.
“Be safe, don’t go looking for him” Jacob whispered, hugging her tighter than Marcelle or Violet had. She could almost feel all of the air leaving her lungs until he released her a few minutes later.
“Love you sis” Angus said- his voice almost inaudible due to the rushing happening on the platform, Coralie however heard him loud and clear.
“I love you too” She said back, before making her way to the incoming train. As it stopped in front of her, she lifted up the handbag she was carrying and carried it onto the train. She waited by a small window just beside a carriage from where she had the perfect view of her family waving madly to her as the train headed off. Once the platform disappeared into the distance, she found herself an empty carriage and collapsed into the seat sighing. “Home sweet home” she whispered to herself.
Some hours later, the train finally pulled in to the French platform. Coralie stood up and made her way to one of the carriage doors, she waited her turn in the line to get off. Once her feet touched the ground she let out a sigh of relief before a wide smile plastered on her face. She was finally back.
She made her way through the busy crowd, leaving the station for the slightly less busy street. Her mother had booked her a room a little motel not too far away from where they used to live. Marcelle had given her permission to go back to their old house, Jacob had agreed to this but warned Coralie not to see anyone. No one could know she had returned.
She promised herself to wait until the morning to head off so that she would actually be able to see what had become of the house rather than a shadow in the dark. And so Coralie made her way over to the small motel, only a few streets away from the railway lines.
After recieving the key from the reception, she threw her bag onto the floor and collasped back onto to the bed- she was fast asleep in minutes.
The next morning Coralie awoke slightly later than she had expected to, it was already half past eleven and her train was leaving at half past five, which left her only six hours. Granted, it sounded like a long time but Coralie wasn't sure it would be.
She grabbed her bag, swinging it over her shoulder and left the motel room. She dropped the keys back in with the reception- she wouldn't be needing them that afternoon.
Coralie found her feet leading the way without her head being entirely sure with what was going on. Within minutes the old Bennett home came into view. Again, her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they led her down to the front gates which she opened with a slight difficulty.
The grass had grown so much and begun to take over the gravel pathway leading to the front door so that Coralie could barely recognize her home anymore. She carefully stepped over an exceptionally large bunch of overgrown grass, her shoes slipping slightly as she placed them in a little bit of water. She frowned a little down at her now wet shoes but continued to move on, finally reaching the front door. Even though she had been there, she half expected to see an ‘abandoned’ sign over the old double white doors but in fact, there was nothing there.
She pulled out the keys that her mother had given her, making sure to keep them safely tucked away in case anything was to happen- she knew her mother had placed some sort of alerting spell over them to give Jacob a piece of mind. She then pushed the door open, a pang in her chest reminding her of the many things that had happened in this house.
For example, right at the top of the stairs in the entrance room was where she watched her father pack up everything and leave while her mother stood at the bottom of the stairs without shedding a single tear. In the drawing room right next to it she could imagine sitting there every Christmas in her itchy ball gowns as she and the rest of her extended family watched Violet play the piano completely out of tune. She could remember standing up one Christmas when she’d only been three or four and singing Christmas carols with Allisyn.
There were so many more memories scattered all over this house. Half in a daze, she made her way up the stairs where a stray cat was sitting, meowing at her as if begging for food. She smiled at the cat sadly who stood up and began to prowl away, in the direction of her mother’s bedroom.
Though she figured that cat was probably just staying in her mother’s old bedroom, Coralie decided that she ought to follow the feline to at least see where it was staying. The cat, clearly happy with the fact that Coralie was now following it, began to move quicker though it constantly looked behind it to check that Coralie was still following. As they finally reached Marcelle’s deserted bedroom, Coralie noticed a few pieces of ripped up newspaper and an open window.
She frowned, if this was where the cat was staying then no wonder it looked so matted and lonely. She decided that she was definitely going to take this cat home to England with her- she knew her mother wouldn’t mind if she knew the story and if she managed to get a few of the mats out then it would look quite acceptable.
“What should I name you sweetheart?” she asked, kneeling on the floor to check the pink collar around the cat’s neck didn’t have some kind of identification on it- it didn’t. “What about Lucy?” The cat meowed loudly; clearly happy with this idea- Coralie chuckled softly and patted the little cat’s head.
Leaving her mother’s old room, she headed up another flight of stairs to the level of her elder sibling’s old bedrooms. On Jacob’s walls she could still see the faint lines of where his posters of his favourite bands had been and in Violet’s coloured stains from where the pair of them had spilt makeup still could be seen on the carpet- she chuckled at the memory of her grandmother’s disappointed face when she’d seen it once. Allisyn’s old room remained as messy as the day she had moved out- Marcelle hadn’t bothered to clean it, she always said it contained too many memories for the whole family.
With a deep breath, Coralie moved up to the next floor- the floor on which her and her younger brother’s rooms had been on. She checked Angus’ first, almost fearing what she could find in her room- there were small burn marks on her brother’s walls, she figured they were from Leo but for some reason she didn’t find herself fearing them what so ever. It just didn’t bother her anymore.
She then made her way over to her bedroom, her hand stayed on the wooden door for a moment longer. Finally she convinced herself that no matter what Leo had done, it was something worth getting worried over, and she’d be back in England before he’d even know she was here. The room was empty- absolutely no sign of Leo ever being there. She released the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and sat down in the middle of her room, Lucy the cat joining her a few seconds later.
“This used to be my room, Luce” she stated, the cat stared up at as if she actually cared and understood what Coralie was saying- her ear twitched for a second before she nudged Coralie in the knee and rested her head there. Coralie smiled at the feline and was careful not to move as to keep herself from disturbing Lucy’s slumber.
It felt weird to her, being back in her old room- the room she’d spent her childhood and most of her teenage years in. Memories, they were everywhere and the stabbed at Coralie’s heart and mind- daring her to remember what it was like before Leo, before she and Violet drifted apart, before Haley was born, before Allisyn grew up and moved out, before Angus was born, before she met Emma and before her dad left. There were so many, both good and bad memories that left Coralie almost wishing she never came home.
Lucy twitched again- like she was sensing that Coralie didn’t want to be there anymore and moved her head, letting Coralie stand up. With millions of thoughts running through her head, she made her way downstairs and out of the front door.
She headed back through the overgrown grass- pausing by a large tree as she watched her best friend’s peaceful house just across the paddock. She knew what Jacob had said- what she had promised him but in the moment she found herself complete defying him and running full speed towards the house in front of her.
She eventually arrived on the front of the house, out of breath and puffing as she leant back on one of the elaborate arches that she’d hidden behind so many times as a child. She had so many good memories in this place- playing hide and go seek with her older siblings and Emma (her best friend), playing with Emma’s little puppy, Alfred, the first day she ever got him. This place was like her second home, just across a few meters of grass. It was her safe house and it always would be.
She pushed herself off the arch and knocked loudly on the front door, she waited for a few minutes- worrying that no one was going to be home and she would have to head back to the hotel and to England without seeing Emma, and then suddenly the door swung open.
There she was- Emma. Still as tiny as ever with her shoulder length mousy hair and an annoyed expression on her face- it made Coralie feel even more at home knowing that her friend still hated answering the door with a passion.
“Cora?” she asked, appearing in the doorframe. She took a good look at her before flying forwards and throwing her arms around Coralie. Though she was slightly surprised with how much gusto her small friend had, she chuckled slightly and hugged Emma just as tightly back. “What are you doing here?” Her friends ever as present French accent shining through, Coralie had to admit it was one of the biggest things she missed about living in England now.
“I came back for a few days” Coralie responded with a bright grin as Emma released her from her tight grip. Her friend laughed happily and pulled her inside quickly- the pair of them were racing up the stairs in no time, just like they used to.
When they finally reached Emma’s room on the third floor, they collapsed onto her bed.
“I missed you so much” Emma said, turning on her side to face Coralie.
“I missed you too” she responded instantly. Coralie loved England- sure, but nothing could ever replace the feeling of being home in France with her best friend in the entire world.
Authors Note: Yay for quick updates again! You can thank the wonderful TenthWeasley for helping me decide whether to put this chapter in or one from a new fic- I know, I shouldn’t start any new ones but I’m going to be updating like crazy next year so I can wrap some up. On that note, If I don’t see you before the Christmas closure- Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Thanks for reading guys!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Sitting on the train home, Coralie wanted nothing more than to still being in France with Emma. How could she go back to England and pretend like nothing ever happened in her summer when her friends asked back at Hogwarts? The rest of the afternoon that she had spent with Emma had been amazing, they had laughed and remembered until the upmost last possible moment before Coralie had to leave.
They both, however reluctant they were, had agreed that Coralie needed to be gone before Emma’s parents got home otherwise it was most likely that Marcelle would find out, and therefore it wouldn’t be long until Jacob did as well. And so, at four-thirty Coralie and Emma had said their goodbyes for the second time in less than a year.
She didn’t know how long it would be until she’d be able to get back to France, or whether Jacob- whom Coralie believe had been taking on the role of ‘overprotective brother’ far too seriously, would ever let her come back. She was prepared, if that happened, if she had to then she would go against her family’s wishes- Emma was the only one she could tell everything to, and she’d listened, hadn’t interrupted once- she understood better than any of the girls at Hogwarts or anyone else she knew.
She’d even listened to Coralie ramble on about Sirius and Nathaniel; she had even given her advice on what to do. ‘Ignore Sirius’ she had said, ‘He broke up with you so he doesn’t deserve you anymore and with this prick, Nathaniel- don’t even bother with him more than you have to’
Coralie felt like her best friend had just pulled all the weight off her shoulders and just thrown it away, it was exactly what Coralie had needed. And yet, she didn’t know how to lie to her family. She couldn’t tell them she’d seen Emma- they’d never let her out of the house again. Could she just say she was in such a great mood because she’d been home? Would they believe her?
Lucy gave a soft meow, as if she was telling Coralie to stop panicking- Coralie only wished she could. Checking her watch, she noted that there was still four hours until she would be back in England. She sighed; half wishing time would go faster with the other half wished it would go slower. What would await her back in England? With several possible situations running through her head, she leaned on the window and closed her eyes-maybe getting back to England wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Throwing her doona cover to the floor, Kiki leaned over at opened the window beside her bed- the owl that had been impatiently tapping on the window flew in and landed on her bedside table. It dropped the letter to the floor before disappearing again. Kiki sighed, leaning over the edge of the bed to pick up the letter.
The familiar scrawl on the front told her that the letter was from Lily but also that something was wrong. Lily wrote often- Kiki loved receiving her letters about how much of a bitch Petunia was but for some reason Lily hadn't been writing nearly as much as she usually did in the past week.
Dear Kiki,
I'm sorry I haven't been writing lately and I do not have time to use pleasantries in this letter, but something had happened. And I know you'll think it's something silly like Petunia is actually marrying that Muggle Whale, but no- it's more than that. I've contacted everyone, everyone but Coralie- I don't think we should tell her yet. But Kiki... We'll meet in the Leaky Cauldron today.
Shelena's back.
Kiki's eyebrows raised, the letter slipping out of her hands and onto the floor again. She swung her legs off the side of her bed quickly and threw on whatever clothes she could find on the floor. She made her way down the stairs as quickly as she possibly could.
"Mother, I'm going out" She called- her mother was probably in the study or something. Both of her parents were high up in the Ministry therefore even when they weren't working they never had time for her. She'd gotten used it quite quickly as a child.
With a deep breath, she grabbed some floo powder and stepped into the fire place. Screaming out 'The Leaky Cauldron' when she needed to. Seconds later, she made her way out of the fireplace- she could see Miranda sitting by herself at one of the tables in the corner. She looked different to the Miranda that Kiki had become used to- she looked tired and worn out which was definitely something new.
"Hey!" Kiki said, breaking her friend's blank stare down at the table. Her eyes snapped up and she smiled solemnly at Kiki- she didn't really find herself expecting more than an half smile from anyone that day.
Soon enough, the rest of the girls arrived and they had taken over a entire two tables between them.
"What are we going to do?" Alice asked, her eyes were wide and laced with worry. This wasn't surprising, Alice had always been super caring and Kiki knew that she was worried.
"We're waiting for the Marauders" Lily answered, her voice had taken a strict tone that none of them were quite used to. It was the same tone that Lily used on Shelena whenever the latter was doing something wrong.
The girls all fell into silence, all avoiding each other’s eyes as much as they possibly could. She had feeling that all the other occupants of the Leaky Cauldron thought that something was desperately wrong with them, though Kiki supposed that there was.
The boys finally arrived ten minutes later, all with stern masks covering the worry Kiki knew would be there. No one wanted Shelena to march back into their lives, they'd only just started getting them back.
"Where's Cora?" James asked, his eyebrows raised slightly as they made their way over and pulled up chairs around the two tables.
"She isn't coming" Kiki replied blankly, watching Remus squeeze Miranda's shoulder lightly.
"We can't hide this from her" Peter said, taking the seat next to Alice and staring at each one of the girls.
"We have to" Lily answered distantly, diverting her eyes to the table. "At least until we come up with a plan of action"
"And what exactly are we supposed to do?" Sirius asked, staring pointedly at Lily who shrugged her shoulders. Tensions were already running high and Shelena hadn't even poked her head into anyone's life yet, Merlin knows everything would go up in flames then.
"We don't know what her plan is" James said logically, straightening up his glasses before letting out a sigh.
"What would her plan be?" Mary asked, nervously biting down on her fingernails. James shrugged his shoulders in response.
"She'll want to come back" Remus said, pursing his lips together tightly. Even he hadn't had the best of experiences with Shelena.
"She'll want to get back into our lives" Miranda added solemnly, her voice was slightly raspy. Mary frowned slightly, staring down at the butterbeer that the boys had ordered for everyone.
"I don't want her back in my life" she whispered, everyone turned to stare at her sadly. Her eyes were watering slightly as she watched everyone's crest fallen expressions. Finally, James leaned over the table and grasped her hand tightly.
"None of us want her back" He assured her and she nodded, a few tears rolling down her face. Alice then placed her hand on top of James' followed by Lily, Miranda and then Kiki. Eventually everyone's hands were stacked in a pile.
"We'll get through this" Alice whispered and everyone nodded in reply. They had to get through this.
Much to her dismay, Coralie found that the rest of her holidays passed with barely any excitement or human contact outside her family. It wasn't until she received her letter with the book list for the school year that things started to get more interesting.
She was somewhat happy to be going back to Hogwarts, she wanted to see all of her friends and start the new work for her last year of magical education. She was nervous about her NEWT's, she figured most of her classmates would also share this view.
Angus was excited too, though Coralie had feeling he was slightly more excited to go back to see Azure than he was to see any of his other friends. Oh well, it was sweet. Coralie desperately hoped that Angus and Azure would get together one day. But that was a thought for another day.
She scored her bedroom floor for some clean clothes- she'd been too lazy to clean her room for weeks now. But she promised herself that she would clean everything before Hogwarts. Her birthday was coming up shortly- her seventeenth birthday. She knew her mother was excited about it and probably had some extravagant party planned, Coralie wasn’t sure she exactly wanted some big, fancy party for her coming of age.
In fact, she didn’t really feel like doing much at all. She would have much preferred just to stay at home with a good book, some ice-cream and Lucy the cat- that would have been her perfect night. She still hadn’t heard from a single one of her friends- she knew even Marlene was back in England now but she hadn’t heard a single peep.
She was still wondering what the hell was going on with all of them, it wasn’t usual for them to ignore her for this long. She couldn’t think of anything she’d done wrong- it was just stressing her even more because she didn’t know. She thought about using the muggle telephone to get in contact with Lily, but then she decided against it.
Her mind was still racing with possibilities when Lucy plopped herself right on her lap. She chuckled and began to pat her while she purred.
“What are you doing?” Coralie asked, playing with one of the cat’s soft ears. She looked up and shook her head viciously, Coralie chuckled again. “Cutie” she whispered, Lucy purred in response.
“Mum said we’re getting out books today” Angus said, entering the room some five minutes later. Lucy looked up at him, glaring slightly as if to ask him why he dared to intrude on her slumber. Admittedly, Lucy preferred Angus and Marcelle to Jacob and Violet- though it amused Coralie greatly, it also made her wonder.
“When?” she asked, letting Lucy climb over her lap and on to Angus’.
“Whenever you’re ready” he replied, patting Lucy on the head. Coralie nodded in response, standing up and brushing down her jeans- trying to get rid of all the cat hair on them, though she wasn’t very successful.
“Come on then” she said. Angus stood up, the cat moodily jumping off and stalking away to no doubt find Shadow, Coralie’s other cat, to annoy. The two Bennett’s made their way into the front room where their mother was standing, waiting for them- the three of them then apparated alongside one another to Diagon Alley.
“Where are we going first?” Marcelle asked. After they had visited Diagon Alley for the first time last year, their mother had become obsessed with the little street. She had made it her personal goal to learn every shop name and their owner by the time Coralie and Angus got back home from Hogwarts.
“Flourish and Botts?” Coralie replied, the other two nodded in agreement as they headed off in the direction of said shop. They didn’t take long to get all of the books that they both required and so headed off in search of the rest of the items listed on the book list for both seventh and fifth year.
Another few days passed until Coralie found that her seventeenth birthday was upon her. She’d found out that her mother had indeed been planning something but upon her request, cancelled the whole idea and let Coralie do what she wanted.
She woke up early enough, earlier than she would have admittedly liked for her birthday but to her, it just felt like another day. Her family was already awake when she finally made her way downstairs, they were all sitting around in the living room with their presents and cards. She’d gotten some clothes from her mother, a book from Allisyn and Haley, a couple of boxes of French chocolate from Jacob, some lovely perfume from Violet and a set of beautiful photo frames that had even been filled with her favourite pictures from Angus.
She thanked everyone separately, she had honestly loved everything she had gotten- her family was pretty amazing at buying the things that would make her days better. She was thankful for that. Allisyn made everyone breakfast- being the best cook in the family.
“Happy Birthday Cora!” Allisyn grinned, slipping some bacon and eggs onto Coralie’s plate. Her family had a habit of constantly reminding Coralie of her birthday ever year, the one who could say it the most amount of times was considered the winner.
“Happy Birthday!” Followed Jacob, his voice was much louder than Allisyn’s therefore he began another round of happy birthdays from everyone. Once she finally finished off her breakfast she escaped back up to her room to try and avoid at least her older brother for as long as she possibly could.
Once she arrived in her room she was blown away by the amount of owls waiting at her window. She smiled widely and in disbelief, opening her window and letting all the owls fly in. They dropped their parcels and letters on her bed in front of her. They quickly disappeared out the window and flew off in all directions. Coralie shuffled through the letters and parcels and picked one out, she quickly ripped open the back.
Dear Coralie,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! I’m hoping you’re having a wonderful day already and I can’t wait to see you in less than a month for our last year at Hogwarts. I hope you also like my gift and I miss you dearly.
Happy Birthday again,
Alice
Coralie smiled, ripping open the parcel that Alice had sent to her. It was a tiny little box, and inside was a little silver ring. It was simple but stylish, just like Alice was. She quickly slipped it onto her finger, admiring it closely before leaving it on. She loved it. Placing the letter and empty package to the side, she picked up the next letter which was from Kiki. It said the same thing essentially, only Kiki had added more exclamation marks and was a little more hyper.
Her gift was a bit bigger; a classy leather bound book and a cute quill on top. On the first page of the notebook Kiki had written in a note, it read: Here you can write anything that comes to your mind and no one but you will be able to read it. Happy Birthday Coralie.
All the other letters from her friends followed in a similar pattern, some people- like Lily wrote three entire paragraphs while James opted for a single line, either way Coralie was just as happy to receive any word from them.
The gifts were basic too, quills, some jewellery and some chocolates here and there. She hadn’t expected them to buy her big gifts or know exactly what she had wanted. She’d actually been quite shocked to receive anything from any of them. She brushed her bitter thoughts to the back of her mind, she knew they’d have a reason for their lack of contact- she was just worrying too much.
Coralie then noticed two letters and parcels that she’d forgotten about, she picked out the first of the two and ripped that one open. It was from Emma but she’d been smart enough to keep the letter very vague, like she never knew Coralie had returned to France let alone had spent the afternoon with her. The gift was sweet, a little honey coloured teddy bear that was holding a baby pink heart. She placed the teddy on her pillow before grabbing the next letter.
On the black of the letter was a wax seal, a fancy crest which Coralie could only believe belonged to some pureblooded family was placed neatly on the back. She really should have been able to tell what would await her inside the letter.
Dear Coralie,
Happy Birthday Miss Bennett. Are you ready for your life to get a whole lot more difficult? Don’t understand what I’m talking about? Maybe you should go ask Lily Evans, I bet she could tell you. But then again, maybe she and the rest of your ‘friends’ would just continue to keep it a secret from you. You’re all alone in this world Coralie, and it’s just about to get worse for you.
Watch your back, you’ll need to.
Leo Millen.
Coralie sighed, placing the letter in front of her and frowning. She didn’t need this right now, she just wanted to forget about everything bad in her life, at least just for her day but no, Leo had gone and ruined that of course.
The letter had quite possibly ruined her near perfect day, she hated the affect it had over her. She was worried about what Leo was threatening, why was her life going to get more difficult and why would Lily know what he was talking about. She knew he was just trying to get her attention, to make her worry and doubt Lily but she refused to let him break their friendship apart.
But what was he going on about? The possibilities that came to mind were killing her; Lily couldn’t have been on Leo’s side this entire time. She knew that Lily and Shelena had once been good friends but they fought- Alice had told her that. She wouldn’t be backstabbing Coralie, that just wasn’t Lily. What did Leo know anyway? Her friends weren’t keeping things from her, no matter what he said.
Angrily, she pushed the letter onto the floor, pulling out some of the candles her grandmother had given her for her birthday the past year and lit one of them with the top of her wand- it was good being able to use her magic at home now. Within seconds the letter was disappearing into little ashes onto Coralie’s floor, she quickly flicked her wand to make them disappear before heading back down stairs.
Leo Millen would not ruin her day.
Authors Note: So you guys may have noticed that I’ve been revising my chapters lately, that has all been thanks to my wonderful new beta TenthWeasley as my previous beta AquariaJasmyne had to drop out due to medical reasons. With that being said, I don’t really have much more to inform you of- I hope you all had a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year, see you next time guys.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
Before she knew it, Coralie had packed up her trunk and was standing on Platform 9 and ¾, waiting for the train to arrive with Angus. Allisyn had dropped them off this time as she had spent the last few weeks of the holidays with them and was heading home with Haley today.
Coralie wasn’t entirely sure how she was feeling about going back to school, sure she wanted to see her friends but for in the back of mind, Leo’s letter was on repeat. One part of her brain, the rational side wanted her to forget about the letter, that side knew that Leo was trying to play tricks on her mind. The other side however, the paranoid side- it wanted to Coralie to question everything and trust no one. Sometimes it seemed like this part of her brain had more control over the other, she didn’t like that idea at all.
She wanted to forget about the letter mainly, that was the main reason she hadn’t told anyone that she had received the letter in the first place. She knew what her family would say, and she didn’t even want to imagine what her friends would say. And that had been her exact reason for avoiding mentioning anything about Leo or the letter, what people didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Besides, if her friends were keeping secrets didn’t that give her the right to keep her own too?
She knew it was a dangerous thought. In fact she hoped that she might have grown out of the whole secret keeping facade that she had used last year, which clearly hadn’t worked well for her. She should have told someone though, she really should have. She sighed, trying to keep it as casual as possible- Angus still stared at her for a moment before he solemnly turned away- he knew something was up. He was just too intelligent for his own good sometimes.
She just smiled at him in response, trying to keep the fake little facade that she had a habit of creating for herself up. Maybe one day, she would grow out of the lies and be able to tell everyone what was bothering her but until then, she would fake it.
"It's boring here, with no one good to talk to or anything" Angus commented, frowning at a few of the new first years that were running around the platform. Coralie nodded in agreement, pretending that this too was the thing that was bothering her.
"Someone will get here soon, I'm sure" she replied, playing with her hands a little nervously. The fact that within a couple of hours she would be walking back into Hogwarts' doors frightened her slightly, she still didn't know if she was quite ready for what her seventh year would have in store for her.
"God, I hope so" he replied coolly, rubbing his fingers through his hair. He wasn't ready for his fifth year, Coralie could tell that by the way he was constantly messing with his fingers and bobbing up and down on his one foot. She doubted he was nervous about the classes, he could deal with those easily enough, no- he was worried about little Azure Simons.
He wanted to impress her- that came across quite strongly. Especially when he smelt like Jacob's cologne which he'd obviously stolen that morning. He'd brushed his hair neatly as well- though Angus wasn't really one of those boys who let his hair look like a bird's nest (unlike James), and he'd even picked out a cute sweater which clung to his slim frame. Coralie couldn't help but giggle at him- he was so sweet and innocent, trying so desperately to win this girl over.
"What?" he asked, a nervous tone slipping through his voice. He bought his fingers up to his hair and tousled his hair again nervously, Coralie just giggled at this again. He was more worried now, his eyes seeping with worry about whatever was wrong.
"Oh, you are so cute" Coralie commented, ruffling his hair slightly. All he could do was glare in response.
He fixed his hair back up before folding his arms off his chest and staring at his older sister with lips pursed, as if to say '...really?'. Coralie chuckled at him again, picking up her trunk and moving away as she noticed Peter come onto the platform. "Hey!" she called, running up to him.
"Hello Coralie" he said, he was trying to sound confident but there was something at the back of his voice that made it come out worried. He cleared his throat, obviously noticing that something was wrong. "What's up?" He tried to say casually, and though it wasn't much better than the first time Coralie pretended that she couldn't tell the difference.
"Nothing much, you excited for seventh year?" She smiled brightly, pausing for a second before adding, "It should be interesting!" Peter paled slightly, his eyes blinking a few times before he was bought back down to earth.
"W-What makes you say that?" he stuttered slightly, looking down at his shoes while he kicked the ground casually. Coralie shrugged her shoulders, there was no point questioning Peter on what was going on with him, and she didn't want to make him anymore nervous even if she didn't understand why he was so nervous in the first place.
"How about the others, do you know where they are?" she asked casually, moving away from the subject in order to calm him down a little.
"Remus should be here soon, and James and Sirius always turn up five minutes before the train leaves" he chuckled, Coralie breathed a sigh of relief as he returned to his normal self- he was always more comfortable talking about the Marauders then he was about anything else.
"And they've never missed it?" she asked, furrowing her brow slightly. She'd quickly learnt last year that the two boys barely showed up on time for anything, unless food and/or Quidditch were involved. Therefore, it didn't particularly surprise her that they would be late.
"Not once" Peter replied, chuckling slightly. Somehow, although she'd like to be able to say otherwise- this fact didn't really surprise her either. Those two boys had a way of getting things done when other people wouldn't be able to- and she would have killed to know how they did it each time. But alas, they weren't going to hand her their secrets on a silver platter, no, she'd have to work harder if she really wanted to know. "You look like you're planning something evil" Peter commented after a few seconds, he stared at her with an all-knowing look- like the ones he used to give her and Sirius.
"Just working on how to get their secret out of them" She replied casually, both of them then began to chuckle. She had a feeling Peter wouldn't have minded getting to know the boys' secrets for being perfectly on time for the things they wanted; god knows that Peter needed it.
"I reckon I could help with that, as long as you share it with me too" Peter added teasingly, and Coralie nodded in reply.
"Of course, we both need to learn to be on time without having to get up hours beforehand" She answered, rolling her eyes slightly.
"Here, Here" he chanted, raising his hand slightly as if he was making a toast, with a chuckle Coralie quickly copied him before they knocked their imaginary goblets with each other. "To stealing their secret"
"To stealing their secret" Coralie repeated, they both their tipped their heads back and pretended to down their entire goblets- this confused some of the little first years standing around, as some of them seemed to believe that Coralie and Peter had made their glasses invisible. Ah, the imagination of small children always astounded Coralie.
"Whose secret are we stealing now?" Remus asked, appearing beside Peter with a pointed look on his face. The two of them chuckled, saying their hello's to him before explaining their idea- luckily for them, Remus didn't apparently need their secret to be on time.
"He thinks he's too good for us" Peter said, ignoring Remus as if he had never turned up. Coralie sighed in agreement and pretended to wipe a little tear away from underneath her eyes, at this point Peter bought her into a hug while she pretended to sob- Remus just rolled his eyes through the entire act.
"Come on, let's go find a compartment before they're all gone" he said, pulling his trunk onto the train and down the hallway. Even with half an hour to go before the train arrived, most of the compartments had begun to fill up quickly. Though, eventually they were able to find two compartments next to each other- one of the boys and the other for the girls as not all of them would fit in the one. Coralie just found herself hoping that everyone was going to behave themselves for the ride in.
"Thank you kind sir!" Coralie teased as Remus levitated her trunk onto the racks above, he rolled his eyes at her again but smiled anyway.
"I'll see you later Cors" Remus said as he and Peter disappeared into the compartment next door, the door had only just slid shut when Coralie could hear furious whispering coming from their compartment. This worried her, had one of them done something wrong by talking to her? She didn't understand what was going on, that was until her mind clicked again.
The letter, there it was again. First no contact from any of them until her birthday rolled around and now furious whisperings in the neighbouring cabin. Even if her friends weren't keeping a secret from her, there was definitely something going down. She was going to figure it out somehow, no matter what it took- it would bug her endlessly until she knew.
That rational part of her brain was back again though, telling her that if it was something she needed to know then they would tell her. Maybe one of the girls had decided they wanted to tell her face to face rather than via letter. Soon enough, Alice appeared in the compartment- her previously pixie cut hair had grown out a little and she looked happier than a child in a candy store.
"Good summer then?" Coralie asked teasingly, raising her eyebrows suggestively at her friend. Alice blushed slightly; a bright smile covered her face as she sat across for Coralie.
"Yeah, you could say that" she replied cheekily, poking her tongue out at Coralie. The two of them chatted for a while- Alice told her all the details about the summer she'd had with Frank, her boyfriend. Everything that she described was sweet; it was so obvious that the two of them were so perfect for each other.
"I'm going to have to start calling you Mrs Longbottom soon then?" she teased, Alice chuckled in response.
"About bloody time" Kiki said, violently sliding the compartment door open before slamming it shut behind her. Coralie and Alice shared a knowing look, this could only mean one of two things- Kiki had a bad run-in with the Marauders and all their ego's had crashed, this was more possibly as to the close proximity of the two groups, the second option was Alex.
"How are you Kiki?" Coralie asked slowly, trying to not piss of her friend is she possibly help it- she didn't really want to be on the receiving end of a screaming rant.
"I'm just bloody amazing" she replied, the two girls shared another look- letting the compartment fall into a silence, they both desperately hoped that this would calm down Kiki a little, though that was quite unlikely to ever happen so quickly. The compartment door slid open again, this time the rest of the girls squeezed through- finding their places in the compartment.
Coralie looked over each of them, Marlene looked the same only a little more tanned, Miranda had a cut a few inches off her hair and was looking just as happy as when she left for the break, Mary looked tired- like she hadn't slept for days, Kiki, apart from being furious looked exactly the same. It was Lily who caught Coralie's eyes the most, her usually well kept hair was sticking out in all different directions though it looked like she'd tried to tame it and had failed miserably, she hadn't bothered to work on perfecting her outfit that morning- she'd only thrown on some jeans and a t-shirt, her eyes were the worst though. Big, red and bloodshot- like she'd been crying for years.
Coralie furrowed her brow at this, something was definitely wrong now. She tried to communicate through eye contact with someone but they were all silent and staring at the floor.
"What's happened?" she asked meekly, Kiki's head snapped up first and for a moment Coralie thought for sure that she was about to endure a screaming fest from Kiki but instead, nothing happened.
"Something happened in the holidays" Alice whispered a frown plastering to her face- she looked remarkably once than she had and Coralie couldn't believe she'd skipped how much everyone was upset behind their fake masks of happiness. If the situation had been less serious, Coralie would have found it appropriate to add a 'duh' in reply but with the solemn looks of all the girls she knew that it was neither the time nor place.
The compartment fell silent again; the girls all shared worried looks before Marlene opened her mouth and began to explain.
"We wanted to tell you" she started, her voice dropping to a whisper before she built back up to its usual strength. "But Lily said we should plan it first, that way you wouldn't have to worry and the Marauders agreed" Coralie raised her eyebrows slightly without even realising that she was doing it, The Marauders had helped them with something?
"Lily was the one who found out actually, she told the rest of us" Mary added. All the comments made Lily go even paler with every word; clearly she didn't want to have all the blame for whatever they were going to tell her placed on her. Coralie felt like making this known to the other girls but decided against it quickly, that would only distress Lily even more.
"They're back" Alice whispered, almost inaudibly- it seemed loud enough for Lily though as she looked like she was almost ready to burst into tears. Coralie however did not understand one bit of what the girls were going on about.
"Who's back?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly as Lily wiped her eyes- tears had begun to flow steadily from her eyes.
"The Millen's" Lily whispered, her voice cracking half way through as she burst into tears. Miranda was quick to comfort her, whispering to Lily that everything would be fine and that they had absolutely nothing to worry about. Coralie felt like her entire world had been rocked by an earthquake, she wanted to scream out but could only manage to get out a meek few words.
Things made sense now, why Kiki had been so angry and why Mary looked so tired. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out that was what Lily had been crying about.
"Back where?" The girls stared at her solemnly- she knew the answer to the question admittedly, they were back in England and there was no way that Coralie could get out now.
She was stuck. She was stuck in England with absolutely no way out and she could already feel the Millen's closing in on her. What did they want? She had no idea but she knew she'd find out soon enough.
"I need to go" she whispered, pushing herself blindly out of the compartment before she could even focus on what was going on. She needed to find Angus, she knew that much. She knew that her life depended on getting out right now; there was no other way that she'd ever be safe again.
She could hardly notice the weird looks people were giving her as she stumbled down the hallway, she imagined that she looked quite intoxicated to other people but they didn't understand- they would never understand.
Somehow she eventually stumbled upon her little brother's compartment, he'd been laughing with his friends, having the good time that as a fifteen year old boy he deserved but the moment he looked at her that moment was gone.
He knew something was wrong; he didn't even have to ask what it was. He only pulled her into a spare compartment and let her scream her head off at the wall- it was too late, they were both stuck.
Coralie eventually collapsed onto her knees; she spent hours screaming at everything in the compartment which she'd somehow managed to cast a silence spell over and had broken several irreplaceable items from Angus' trunk which he had moved in sometime between the first two hours.
Angus stared worriedly at his sister, before he moved over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He felt like he needed to scream to, he could have broken things as well with all the anger he was feeling inside.
They had tried so hard to avoid this, Marcelle had packed up and left their old home in France just because Jacob said he had needed a change- she still didn't know and yet these 'friends' of Coralie's had changed the absolute point of them ever leaving France. How dare they be that selfish to put all of the family's life in danger?
He knew Coralie felt the same way- like they had betrayed her and she'd never be able to forgive them again. They didn’t deserve to be forgiven; they’d never understand what they had just done to their family- they were never going to be safe again.
It made Angus wish that he had so other way to contact Jacob or Violet or Allisyn, just someone who could get them off this train so that they’d be safe again. There was no way though, they were stuck there for the rest of the year seemingly. And that was only if they made it through the year in one piece.
Coralie had calmed eventually and had stumbled down to the carriages with Angus; the Gryffindor girls watched them from the side- not daring to get much closer for a fear of them both being very upset.
Lily found herself feeling even worse than she had imagined she would- she had known that Coralie would be upset, she couldn’t blame her but seeing Coralie’s expression when the she’d says those words. She didn’t deserve it- she deserved to know the minute Lily had found out and she deserved the chance. Lily had been so selfish; she wasn’t protecting Coralie by not telling her. She was making everything so much more difficult for her.
She wished with every inch of her heart that she could travel back in time to when she had found out and tell Coralie right there and then. Leo and Shelena had something planned for Coralie and whatever it was it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Lils" Mary whispered, rubbing Lily's back lightly. The latter broke out of her reverie and focused back on her friends who were watching her with worried eyes. Her friends had been amazing the last year. After the Shelena debacle, it would have been and understatement to say that Lily had felt completely alone.
Shelena could be an amazing friend when she wanted to be, she would make people feel like they deserved the entire world and would constantly remind them that she'd be there forever- Lily could hardly believe she'd fallen for that. But in a second’s time, Shelena could change her mind and have everyone running for cover. She could be the worst person in the world, a real bitch that everyone feared and hated- even those that had once loved her.
Severus had been just the same. Sweet and kind with Lily but as soon as The Marauders came onto the scene or even one of his death eater buddies, he was an entirely new person. He was rough and cold, not like the friend Lily wanted and needed at all. She'd lost the both of them that year, Severus had called her a mudblood- that cruel word made her blood boil every time she heard it, and Shelena had gone off the rails.
For the last few weeks of her fifth year, Lily was completely alone. Home was even worse for her, sure she loved her parents dearly but it was almost not worth going back if it meant seeing Petunia, there were few worse tortures than to hear her older sister go on about this new boyfriend of hers.
Sixth year, last year- it had changed everything all over again. Shelena was gone and Severus had seemingly dropped off the face of the planet apart from a few appearances now and again. The girls that she'd spent the other years being friendly, but cold at the same time- on Shelena's orders, had bought her through everything. And Coralie, she'd tried her hardest to fit in with them and she'd been so unlike Shelena. She was exactly what Lily needed, a new friend who she could always count on.
Had she completely blown that now? Merlin, she hoped she hadn't. If Shelena was back, if she was there then all the Gryffindor seventh years would need to stick together- there was no way out otherwise.
By the time Coralie made it to the Great Hall she had calmed herself down remarkably, though she kept flipping her head around to look for any sight of Shelena but alas, she was nowhere to be found. She’d sent Angus to back at sit with his friends while she joined the girls again, she wrapped her arms around Lily and whispered to her- “I’m sorry” Lily shook her head, squeezing her back tightly.
“My fault completely” The two of them broke apart, chuckling at each other- all of the Gryffindor girls were determined to forget everything that had happened on the train ride to Hogwarts. Soon enough, the sorting started and was over and the food appeared in front of everyone.
Finally, the last desert disappeared off the table and Dumbledore made his way the front of the section where the teachers sat. “Good evening students, new and old. Welcome to Hogwarts. I must remind you that the Forbidden Forest is called so for a reason and our caretaker Filch will not regret to hand you a detention if you are caught there. Now onto the important things!” He paused, The Gryffindors all shared looks with his last comment before turning back to face him. “I shall not keep you long tonight; all I wish to say is that contemplation is typically not the best response in such a situation. Running, very quickly, will serve us far better." Dumbledore finished off- the whole Great Hall was silent for a moment before the Headmaster smiled again and called out, “Now off to bed” Coralie and Lily turned to stare at each other, as did many other students, with a mixture of bemusement and wonder.
“He’s actually gone insane I think” Lily whispered, staring at Dumbledore who had moved to talk to McGonagall and then to the shiny badge on James’ chest- Coralie had been informed that James had become Head Boy and Lily, not surprisingly at all, had become Head Girl.
“I think you may be right” Coralie added, leaving Lily with James and the first years as she caught up with the other girls. All the high year levels made their way up to dorm rooms- used to the madness of the first night back by now and collapsed onto their beds.
The Gryffindor Girls had dragged their feet as they made their way up to the Common Room though- talking about their summers and just generally catching up as they made their way upstairs. The boys were lagging behind them as well- Sirius and Peter, at least, looked a little lost with James to plan pranks with.
“How was the rest of your summer?” Sirius asked, catching up with Coralie with a few easy strides. Though almost everyone else seemed to have missed Sirius’ exact words, Remus had caught them and sent both of them suspicious looks.
“It was alright, thank you” She replied casually, dropping her voice down to a whisper she added- “I went back to France” Sirius raised his eyebrows slightly in reply.
“What about that Leo guy?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Coralie paused for a second- That Leo guy, The Marauders still didn’t know. She wondered how Sirius would react when she told them that the guy who was stalking her was in fact his ex-girlfriend’s older brother- she had a feeling that he would be shocked.
“He didn’t find me” She said confidently, though she didn’t feel it was exactly true. She knew where Leo was now, at least she had an idea- he had to be near Lily’s house which narrowed it down remarkably from him just being somewhere in France. But he knew exactly where she was too and Hogwarts was probably a lot easier to find than a house near Lily’s.
“Did you enjoy it then?” Sirius replied, it was obvious that he didn’t feel as confident as Coralie had faked sounding. It was sweet that he was still worrying.
“It was great” She answered, the pair of them fell back into a silence and soon enough Sirius had fallen back in line with Peter not that she practically minded. Coralie found herself smiling within minutes as they all reached the Fat Lady’s portrait- for some reason the entrance to the Common Room always made her smile.
“Welcome back!” The portrait called, before asking for the password, after Alice replied with the correct one she added one last comment before she slammed shut. “This will sure to be an interesting year with her back” All of them stopped, the same thought running through every single one of their heads. Was Shelena Millen really back?
Kiki was the one to move first, she had flown up the stairs to the girls dormitories before the rest of them had really got a chance to think. Soon enough, the other girls were following too. By the time Coralie had caught up- being the last one to leave the ground, Kiki had swung open the door and was standing in the middle of the room- her jaw wide open. Well that could only mean one thing.
“Hey girls, did you miss me?”
Authors Note: And there you go- Shelena is back and seventh year has started! I feel this would be a good time to mention that after this chapter there are only twenty chapters left until the end of this story and I hope to have them all up this year. That being said, I will let you guys go and I hope to see you in the next chapter.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
For the first week of term, the house of Gryffindor was more on its toes than ever before. By now everyone knew that Shelena Millen was back and even those who hadn’t known her before, certainly did now. The first years had quickly learnt to stay away from her, as did the other years, for fears of being the next target for one of her jokes.
Coralie so far had become the main target, she’d had worms put in her clothes, snails in her food at which point James tried to lighten the mood by reminding her that she was French and ate snails anyway- he didn’t seem to enjoy them being thrown at his face by Lily. She could deal with the jokes, worms didn’t scare her and James was right, she’d eaten snails before. It was the cutting comments every single day that were starting to bring her down.
The other houses seemed to find it hilarious, not only with Coralie being picked on but not a single Gryffindor was safe. Quite a few Slytherins had even taken to trying to scare the Gryffindors too, but most of them had wised up to this fact and had started ignoring them from day one.
Coralie was making her way to double Transfiguration on the Friday morning with James as everyone else was still at breakfast. Being able to have any time without Shelena hovering in the background was an absolute gift for Coralie, and admittedly, James as well.
“Have you been alright?” James asked in a low whisper, they’d all started becoming incredibly paranoid and ultimately, had become very good at being able to slip through crowds.
“Yeah, she’s really trying to get me though” she replied, checking behind her quickly to make sure that no one was there.
“I don’t understand why” he answered just as quietly, dropping his head slightly so he came level with Coralie’s height. “She’s got something against you, hasn’t she?” Coralie sent him a ‘do you think?’ look before pursing her lips together.
“She’s got a lot on me James” she added, looking up at her friend with a mixture of solemn and annoyance. She would have liked nothing more than for Shelena to get her own life and butt out of hers, but alas there was no sign of that happening yet.
“Cora, seriously- Tell me and I’ll help. I’ve known Shelena for years, I can get her to back off” he said, widen his eyes at her to make his point.
“Course, you know her almost as well as Sirius did” she commented coldly, rolling her eyes at him. He blinked a few times, obviously hurt by her comment before she let out a sigh. “Look, I’m sorry. She’s just really got to us. I mean you guys can escape her, the girls and I are stuck with her every night”
“I’ll make her stop” he repeated calmly, Coralie sighed and dropped her voice even lower than it previously had been.
“Leo. She has Leo on me” James furrowed his eyebrows at her before his eyes widened with realisation; he frowned the immediate moment he worked it out and ran his fingers through his hair.
“He knew who we were, we just made it easier for him by sending that letter” He closed his eyes and sighed in disbelief at his stupidity. “We didn’t know, we didn’t realise it was him”
“I know” Coralie responded solemnly, “I didn’t know until after your party” she added, frowning at her shoes as they continued to walk to their class.
“She was there, you know” James frowned, kicking a bit of the ground with his shoe. “At my party. Before Sirius broke up with you, she talked him” Coralie frowned before taking a deep breath, James furrowed his brows and placed his hand on her back. “She has this control over him, makes him so angry that he does stupid things”
“I saw him in the holidays- he sent me an owl and he caught up” James furrowed his brow even further, it was obvious that Sirius hadn’t thought to tell James about this. “Asked me to forgive him” she whispered, checking behind her nervously.
“And you didn’t?” he whispered, though he was pretending to be neutral his disappointment was seeping through his voice.
“I forgave him, but I couldn’t take him back. Something else happened to me” James let out a sigh of relief, before continuing to listen to what she was saying. “Something bad and I couldn’t” Her voice caught in her throat for a minute before she cough slightly before shaking her head. “I can’t even tell you” James frowned and rubbed her back in a brotherly way, she let herself fall into his side a little as they continued on to McGonagall’s class.
Sirius found himself feeling more and more disconnected from the rest of the world every single day. He hated this; he hated seeing her around again. He was over her, well and truly, in fact the thought of her made him want to pitch himself off the Astronomy Tower. It was more the fact that she was there and rubbing it in his face that bothered him. He knew everyone else hated it too, she was just such a bitch.
“Thinking ‘bout me babe?” He cursed under his breath; she had a habit of turning up everywhere when he didn’t want her.
“Funnily enough, No” he replied cuttingly, he turned his attention to the fire that someone had lit up using one of Filch’s banned lists of items.
“Didn’t you miss me Sirius?” she whispered, sitting down next to him on the couch and running her fingers through his hair. He tried to ignore her, tried to pretend that she didn’t exist but he found himself growing more and more irritated every time she inched a little closer. “I thought about you, you know? Every single day”
“I’m sure you did” he answered as casually as he possibly could. It was the truth though; he highly doubted that she thought of him even once. Except perhaps if she was laughing at him, he wouldn’t have blamed her really- he’d been stupider enough to fall for her little games back then, but not now. Now he was stronger and knew what she was capable of. He wasn’t lovesick for her anymore; in fact he couldn’t have cared less about her.
“Oh, but I did Sirius” she assured him. It was clear that she was teasing him, trying to get him to say it back but he would not fall to her level. He would beat her no matter what it meant he had to do.
“Honestly Shelena, why are you even here?” He snapped, and she widen her eyes at him slightly before chuckling. “You do realise that nobody likes you anymore, and we all want you gone”
“Oh yes, I’ve heard that you all replaced me with that Bennett girl” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “She’s terribly boring if you ask me, no sense of adventure”
“This is exactly why we all like her rather than you. We can depend on her and we know that she actually cares about us. That might confuse you, considering you have no idea what the word care means” he cut back.
“Oh, I heard about the two of you. Funny how after I saw you at the party that you two broke it off” Shelena replied coolly, playing with the ends of her hair. “Though, she seemed fine about it after I met her a few days later” she added a few minutes later. Sirius could feel himself paling slightly, what the hell had been thinking? He should have kept Coralie by his side and then she would have been fine. “Bet she didn’t tell you about that, did she?” she teased.
“Stay away from her Shelena, just because she’s a much better person than you doesn’t give you the right to mess around with her whenever you get bored” Sirius replied, standing up from the couch and going to move back to his dormitory.
“Actually, it does” Shelena replied, a smug smirk filling her face. He ignored her and continued to head up the stairs, where he angrily kicked the bottom of his trunk before collapsing onto his bed with a grunt.
“Interesting class isn’t it?” Coralie somehow managed to pull her head off the table and look over at Shelena who was now taking the place next to her. The latter sent her a fierce look before turning back to the open book in front of her; she wasn’t really up to a whole lesson being seated next to Shelena. “Play nicely Bennett, otherwise you might have people thinking that you hate me or something”
“Funny, I don’t think I’d have to act for people to notice that- I’m afraid not everyone is as clueless as you” She snapped back. Shelena always knew exactly how to rile her up and get her saying rude things to people that she never would have done on her own, she hated that she was able to this to her.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet Bennett. Trying to play the big, tough girl” Shelena pouted her lips slightly, pausing for a moment before she continued. “We both know you’re the weakling out of the two of us” Coralie found herself being unable to snap back with something quick enough, she wasn’t weak. Maybe Shelena didn’t understand that now but in a few days, she would understand just how strong Coralie could be.
“Why don’t you bugger off?” Kiki added as she joined the two of them. It had quickly become apparent, during the first night of term that Kiki and Shelena really did not get along. Their personalities were similar, though Kiki was much nicer, that was without a doubt, therefore their personalities were constantly clashing- in class, at dinner, in the Common Room, everywhere. If they hadn't hated each other so much they probably would have been the perfect friends, alas they were not.
"You know what Soho, I'm happy here" Shelena replied casually. She began to play with the ends of her hair as if she was completely innocent- Coralie had noticed that Shelena had a habit of doing this whenever she wanted to be extra bitchy to someone.
"Millen, leave" Kiki spat. If Shelena's ability to annoy Coralie was strong, then her ability to get a reaction out of Kiki was much more amplified. Then again, Coralie had a much calmer temperament to Kiki.
"Maybe I don't want to Soho" she answered teasingly, raising her eyebrows at Kiki as if to challenge her into saying something she'd regret. Sadly, it seemed that Shelena had lost touch with what Kiki did- she never regretted anything she said or did, that was what made her so difficult when she wanted to be.
"It's not like anyone wants you here anyway, Haven't you gotten that message yet?" Kiki asked, sending Shelena a 'solemn' look. The latter only chuckled in response, before pushing herself out of the chair. As she made her way to leave, she stopped at Kiki's ear and whispered.
"I've got the message, but have you?" She then disappeared, leaving Kiki looking angrily down at her books which she slammed onto Coralie's table.
"Forget her" Coralie reminded her at which her friend sent her a look.
"I can, but can you?" She replied shortly, flipping open her book and read through it with a sour look on her face. Coralie could only sigh in response, Shelena was tearing everyone apart piece by piece and she wasn’t entirely sure if they’d all make it through anymore.
Authors Note: I don’t really even have anything to say this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it though and I will see you in Chapter Thirty-Seven.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading.
The first month back at Hogwarts did not improve at all. In fact, the school was falling apart even more than it previously had been. People had begun to take sides in what people were deeming as ‘The Gryffindor War’- either you were on Team Shelena or Team Coralie. Coralie herself did not understand where people had gotten the idea, she didn’t want to be included in some war- she had enough trouble trying to avoid Shelena without her little army following her around too.
Surprisingly enough to her, people had taken Coralie’s side, and not just a few either- within the first day of ‘side choosing’ Kiki, who had declared herself president of Team Coralie, had gotten half of the school to join up.
The two teams just made it worse. Although Coralie liked having people to watch her back, the more people that got involved meant that Shelena stepped up her game. It was times like this that Coralie wanted to be sucked into the ground by a black hole, at least there she’d be safe there from Shelena. The two sides also increased the amount of bitchy comments being thrown around, she was surprised that Dumbledore hadn’t called the two of them into his office yet.
In order to avoid the Gryffindors, Coralie found herself spending a great deal of time with Sarah and Tyler- though they were both on her side they didn’t take to dropping flour bombs on people and whatnot. Instead, Tyler had written and recited multiple poems and sonnets to declare his loyalty. Sarah however, was a little more subtle and was able to spy on Shelena and warn Coralie as to what her plans were. She found this much more useful than Tyler’s works.
That particular night, Coralie was sitting in the library with her two favourite Ravenclaws- and she had so rightly named them. Tyler was working on a song- even now and then spurting around random lyrics that made no sense to either girl. Sarah was working on some Potions homework, thought it involved the Draught of Living Death which Coralie couldn’t remember studying- she didn’t bother to ask the real reason Sarah was studying it.
“It’s almost finished!” Tyler whispered with an excited tone, as he leant over the table. The girls shared a worried look, whatever this song was going to be like they both knew that it would be something to worry over especially if Tyler was going to sing it out loud again- last time he’d ended up in the Hospital Wing, though both girls were left wondering whether it was the lyrics or his singing.
“That’s great Tyler” Sarah replied, uncertainty seeping through in her voice. She really didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of the war too, especially as she preferred to sneak around and pick up all the juicy information for Coralie. She would be a great spy for anybody in the future.
“Yeah Tyler just check with us this time before you start singing again” Coralie added, biting down on her bottom lip. Though Tyler sent her a weird look first, he then nodded- deciding that he didn’t really want to end up the Hospital wing again just because someone didn’t understand his art. Both girls sighed with relief, neither of them really needed the added stress of Tyler becoming a target to be added to their already very busy lives.
“I don’t understand why they didn’t like my singing last time” he frowned, furrowing his eyebrows together. Both of the girls shrugged their shoulders, going back to their work as he wondered. After a few minutes of thinking he shrugged it off and went back to finishing off his song.
The following morning was certainly an interesting one for Coralie. She’d gotten used to waking up with all sorts of things waiting for her, courtesy of Shelena but there was nothing there. She couldn’t brush the thought away that there was going to be something waiting for her in the shower but it was completely Shelena-proof. Instead of this calming her down, it put her more on edge. She just knew that Shelena would get her when she was least expecting it.
Somehow, she and Lily made their way down to breakfast without anything happening- in fact all of Team Shelena looked lost upon the absence of their leader. It was worrying everyone else, simply because they’d quickly learnt to always expect the unexpected from Shelena. She didn’t reappear at breakfast, which had everyone even more on their toes than they had previously been before.
By the time the Gryffindors, at least those in seventh year, began to make their way to their first class she still hadn't shown up. Peter had a relaxed a little- after he had become under fire for sticking up for a little second year that Shelena had been messing with. The rest of them, however, made sure to keep their guard well up.
After a few more minutes of absolutely no sign of trouble anywhere, they all began to slowly drop their guard. Soon enough, they were laughing like nothing bad had happened that year. Everybody felt like massive weights had been lifted off their backs, like nothing mattered anymore because they were all together now.
“And so then the House Elf turns to the Hippogriff and says...” Sirius joked, as he walked next to James. Coralie laughed along with everyone else though she had particularly been paying attention to the start of the joke. “Shit” he cursed, everyone shared puzzled looks with each other.
“What the hell are you going on about mate? That was one of the worst jokes ever” James said, shaking his head and his friend.
“The end part wasn’t the joke” Sirius said seriously. “That was the shit” He added, pointing down the hallway where the others hadn’t been focusing. There in the middle of the hallway was an unmoving body- it was a girl.
“Merlin” James whispered, moving closer to the girl. As he got closer enough to be able to see the girl’s face he swore again. “Guys, it’s Shelena” The hallway fell silent before all of them ran forwards and began to check Shelena.
“She passed out I think” Miranda said, placing her hand over Shelena’s forehead. “No temperature or anything and her breathing is steady” She added, puzzled slightly.
“Did anyone notice anything different with her this morning?” Coralie asked, bending down on the floor next to James who was attempting to find Shelena’s pulse through the millions of bracelets and such she wore every day.
“Yes, Cora because we all pay so much attention to her” Kiki shot back and Coralie sent her a disappointed look. “Look, it is true. We all hate her so why don’t just let her lie here forever more” Everyone rolled their eyes at Kiki’s suggestion, though a few of them sent her stern looks as well.
“It’s a brilliant idea Kiki” Marlene started, pausing for a second as Alice sent her a dirty look. “Except for the fact she bloody well haunt us in her death” Sirius rolled his eyes at this before pulling a face that said he agreed with her.
“I don’t want to be stuck with her forever” Sirius spat, he had kept a good distance away from where she was lying in case it turned out to be a trick. That and the thought of having to go anywhere near her still bothered him deeply.
“None of us do, mate” James replied, picking her up and holding her in his arms bridal style though he clearly didn’t want to be the one doing it. But Sirius wouldn’t touch her, Peter was deathly afraid of her and Remus was getting weaker as the Full Moon was only a few days away.
“We can’t all go with James” Lily said reasonably, getting a nod of agreement from both Sirius and Peter within seconds.
“Good point Lils” Sirius started, receiving a death glare from Lily the minute he used the nickname she was sometimes called by. “You go with James, and the rest of us will head to class” Lily sent him another look at this comment.
“He’s right Lily, you two go and the rest of us should go to class so that we can tell Slughorn what happened” Coralie reasoned, Lily’s eyes softened slightly at this.
“Fine, James and I will go but we’re not staying for her to wake up” Lily replied snappishly as she turned on her heel and stomped away, James following her closely behind. The rest of them waited for them to disappear further down to the corridor before bursting into laughter.
“Who knew Lily could be such a bitch?” Alice commented teasingly, throwing her arms around Coralie’s shoulders as they continued down to the dungeons for Potions while Peter, Marlene and Kiki headed up to Divination for their first class of the day.
“I heard we’re getting our new partners for this year” Mary said as they made their way into the classroom, Coralie furrowed her brows slightly at this.
“Why didn’t he give them to us earlier? We’re already a month into the term” Mary shrugged her shoulders in response and so the conversation was dropped. Coralie was hoping that she would be partnered with someone good like Sarah again, or at least someone she got along with.
“Hello class!” Slughorn’s voice boomed as he made his way into the classroom, his big belly hit something off one of the shelves causing a few of the students to laugh. “I’ve come up with a new seating plan so that everyone’s learning potential will greatly benefit!” Coralie looked over at Sirius to see him hitting his head on the table repeatedly; she had to almost stick her entire fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing. He seemed to notice as he turned his head slightly to wink at her, she smiled back at him sweetly before turning her attention back to Slughorn. "So without further ado, your partners!" Slughorn whipped out some parchment and began to read through some names, most of the Slytherins in the class had been paired together as had the two Hufflepuffs in the class. Sirius was the first Gryffindor to partnered off, he'd been put together with Sarah who Coralie knew wasn't overly fond of Sirius but would be nice anyway. Alice had been paired off with James who was still yet to return with Lily from the Hospital Wing and then soon enough, Coralie was being given her partner. "Bennett and Peakes"
Coralie couldn't believe her luck, being stuck with Peakes for another year? She wondered if death would be quicker with a wand or a muggle gun. Either way, she refused to be stuck the arrogant being that was Nathaniel Peakes. She took a chance to look over at him briefly as to bask in the glory of his annoyed face but she was disappointed to find that he looked quite pleased with himself.
“Nice to see you’re alive Bennett” he said, throwing Coralie completely off guard, she stared at him with an open mouth before she could finally find the words to explain what was running through her head.
“What?” she spluttered out and he chuckled at her slightly before raising one of his eyebrows.
“I’m guessing you are completely thrown by my change in personality am I correct?” Coralie nodded and he could only chuckle in response again.
“That there is the reason you are in Ravenclaw” She muttered under her breath and though she knew he heard her, he ignored the comment completely and continued to talk.
“I must apologise for last year” Nathaniel continued, completely ignoring Coralie’s mixed reaction of amazement and confusion. “To say I’d had a bad year would be a bit of an understatement-”
“That doesn’t mean you tell your Charms partners that you wish they’d throw themselves off towers no matter how much of a bad year you’re having” she explained with annoyance. She could hardly believe what he was saying. What in the world made him think he had the right to be so rude to her just because he was having a ‘bad year’? At that moment, Coralie had never wanted to hit anyone more in her life.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that" he apologised, though he sounded very sincere Coralie refused to believe him. He was the spawn of the devil- he'd shown her that with his personality quite clearly. "Really, I am" he added upon seeing her not being convinced. "I saw you're not a fan of Millen then, kind of thought you would be" Coralie rolled her eyes.
"Be friends with her?" she scoffed. If there was one thing worse than Nathaniel then it was definitely Shelena. “Well sorry to disappoint you but the mega bitch doesn’t have friends, only people who idolize her” Coralie informed him, pursing her lips together tightly.
“You not one of them then?” Nathaniel half teased in response. Coralie rolled her eyes in response.
"Please, I'd sooner prefer to listen to you tell me to jump off Astronomy Towers then spend more time than necessary with her" Coralie replied seriously, though her eyes were twinkling slightly. Nathaniel chuckled with her.
"You're not that bad after all Bennett" he commented, grabbing out the ingredients they needed for the potion they would be making.
"Thank you" she replied, a little bit blown away by the change in his attitude but also by the fact that it was constant. "What do you have against her then?" she asked casually, grabbing out a few batwings for the potion. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair before he turned and looked at her straight in the eye.
"She used to mess around with me" He said simply. Coralie let her face fall a little before she regained her cool quickly.
"She messes with everyone Peakes, don't go thinking you're special" Nathaniel chuckled, shaking his head slightly as he heated up the cauldron.
"No, she really used to mess with my head" Coralie frowned slightly at this. "Used to think I was a little game that she could play with whenever she got bored with Black. I fell for it originally, kept believing in it for ages" He frowned then too, staring down at the cauldron while he thought about what to say next. For some reason, Coralie reached out and placed her hand on top of his without thinking. "I thought she'd leave him you see, Boy- was I wrong?" He diverted his gaze to the ceiling for a second, before he flipped his hand over to hold Coralie's, he gave it a little squeeze before continuing. "I got sick of it eventually then she ran off with Potter. That's why Black hates me so much- she was never good at keeping secrets" Coralie frowned again.
"And I thought she messed with me" She commented, staring down at the floor as Nathaniel scoffed slightly.
"She's got something on you too, doesn't she?" He asked, staring at her pointedly. She wanted to deny it, tell the Ravenclaw in front of her that he was imagining things but she couldn't. Everyone knew Shelena had something on her, just nobody knew exactly what.
"Yeah" She whispered.
"Something bad. Something that if people find out will completely change everything right?" He asked, watching her with a solemn expression in his eyes as she nodded at him. "She'll tell everyone your secret"
"She doesn't know my secret, but she has someone who wants to get rid of my family" She answered in a low whisper as Slughorn passed their bench.
"She told everyone my secret" Coralie turned to face him with a wide expression. She knew everyone had their own little secret but she never expect Peakes to have something that would 'change everything'. "My mother was a very powerful witch you see but she was hiding from everyone" He paused for a moment, making a deep breath. "I told Millen, though that I loved her at the time and then she went and told someone where my mother was" Coralie took a sharp intake of breath. "They found her and killed her"
"And you hated her since?" Coralie finished, her eyes filled with sadness for the boy in front of her as he nodded.
"She ruined my life" He said simply, a frown spreading across his face again.
"She has a habit of doing that" Coralie replied instantly. The pair of them fell back into a comfortable silence.
Authors Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, once again I don’t have much to say apart from thanking all of you for all of your support so far. This story is drawing to an end in eighteen chapters time so I just really want to thank everyone for your lovely reviews, your favourites and the reads- They honestly mean so much to me. I’ll see you guys next time!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading
Despite what she had said in the hallway in front of all of her friends, Lily couldn't bring herself to leave her ex-best friend in the Hospital Wing. James seemed to understand this but refused to leave her alone until Shelena had woken up and Lily was happy. The pair of them sat in silence on either side of Shelena’s bed, every now and again Madam Pomfrey would walk in and check on the unconscious Shelena.
“What did Madam Pomfrey say was wrong with her?” James asked after a few minutes in silence. Lily stared over at him with wide and confused eyes. Her mind wasn’t fully functioning on what was going on around her; some things were still a little fuzzy for her.
“She had no idea” She eventually replied, her voice sounded a lot weaker than she imagined it would. Then again, she hadn’t spoken for what seemed like hours. “What’s the time?” She managed to get out; James stared at her for a second before looking down at the fancy watch on his wrist.
“Almost lunch time” He replied calmly, letting his arm fall to his side again. He was completely with it either, in fact he hadn’t felt with it since he’d gotten back to school. Having Shelena back at Hogwarts changed everything, for everyone. He’d been so afraid that he’d loose Sirius again, he knew his best mate still hadn’t fully recovered from the bitch that was lying in front of him- he wanted to be able to make her feel the same pain that he knew Sirius had.
She deserved to feel like that for the rest of her life. She deserved to end up friendless and alone, James knew it would happen one day. People were already getting sick of her being around, it wouldn’t take it long for her to realise it.
“Are you alright James?” Lily asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she stared over at him with a worried look in her eyes. He blinked a few times; unable to string any words together that would even somewhat resemble a sentence that made sense.
“Um...yeah” He managed to spill out after a few seconds. Lily stared at him, obviously able to see through his blatant lie but she did not say anything to push him into saying more. He was grateful for this as he wasn’t sure he would have been able to come up with anything else to explain what was going through his mind.
“You can go, if you want” Lily added, sending him a look that almost convinced him that she could read minds. He wanted to tell her that he’d stay for as long as she would need him but she sent him another look that made him stand up.
“I’ll see you in the Common Room tonight Lily” James said, nodding at her as he made his way out of the Hospital Wing. Lily breathed a sigh of relief out, she was thankful that James wanted to sit with her and make sure she was okay but she really needed some time to think for herself while her ex-best friend wasn’t able to bother her.
She didn’t even think about anything in particular, she just let her mind wander wherever it decided to take her. She didn’t even feel like she’d thought about much, nor had much time passed when she noticed Shelena’s eyes flickering open.
“Shit” She groaned, grabbing onto her head and squeezing her eyes tightly. She then noticed Lily, her eyes turned into a cold glare within seconds. “What are you doing here?” She spat out, she tried to appear strong but Lily could see the pain in her eyes.
“I found you” Lily replied casually, taking the pillow out from underneath her old friend and fixing it up from her. “On the floor of a hallway near the dungeons” Her eyes softened again for a minute as she bit down on her bottom lip.
“Thank you Lil” she whispered, resting her bed back on the pillow but she did not close her eyes again. “No one ever cared about me more than you Lil” She added just as softly, Lily frowned slightly- her eyebrows furrowing.
“That’s not entirely true Shelena” she paused for a second as her friend stared at her. “Sirius cared about you, you know that. So did Peakes, you messed it up both times” Shelena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You know that in some crazy way and for some crazy reason, even Coralie worried about you when we found you”
“Has it happened to her too?” Shelena asked, sitting up in her bed slightly. Lily frowned; she had absolutely no clue what Shelena was going on about now. “She hasn’t told you?” Shelena frowned, she let her eyes close again. “Of course she wouldn’t tell”
“What are you going on about?” Lily asked, lowering her head slightly so she was able to look Shelena in the eye.
“Nothing” she replied, her cold demeanour returning in an instant. Lily shook her head, she couldn’t be bothered with this kind of trouble right now. She pushed her chair out and stormed out of the Hospital Wing without another word.
It still felt foreign to Coralie, being able to sit next to Nathaniel in class and sometimes even out of class without him throwing insults at her. She had to admit, she much preferred being able to spend time with him like she was rather than how it had been.
Somehow, they’d grown exceptionally close in a very short period. She felt much more comfortable spending time around Nathaniel, Sarah and Tyler than she did with her Gryffindor friends at the present time.
Shelena had been released from the Hospital Wing and was back to be her bitchy self though she’d toned it down slightly with her attacks on Coralie. This made Coralie wondered whether James or Lily had indeed said something to her, either way she was grateful that she was able to make her way through most of the corridors with no trouble. Because of this change in attitude, rumours were flying everywhere about how Shelena had gone soft- Coralie found herself listening in to some Ravenclaw’s whispers one day as she sat beside Sarah.
“They say Bennett finally gave up Black and that he and Millen are back together” One of them whispered, sparing a glance at Coralie who pretended to be paying attention to her food.
“I heard Bennett and Nathaniel were going to Hogsmeade together this weekend” The second one added, giggling slightly behind her hand. Coralie rolled her eyes at this, after she had begun to spend more time around Nathaniel people had begun to spread rumours about the apparent ‘four-way’ love triangle that was going on between the two of them and Sirius and Shelena.
Coralie was well and truly sick of the glares she would receive the moment she left her dormitory- though the ones she got from Shelena weren’t much better. She constantly felt like standing up on a table in the Great Hall and screaming to everyone that there was no love triangle/square happening between the three Gryffindor and one Ravenclaw.
“Would you mind your own business, please?” Coralie blinked a few times, as did the two Ravenclaw’s as Sarah sent them annoyed looks. “If you hadn’t noticed, You aren’t Coralie or Shelena or Nathaniel or Sirius, therefore you have absolutely no right to talk about their matters”
“Sorry Sarah” One of them whispered as she quickly went back to eating her food without another word.
“When did you get so scary?” Nathaniel asked, sliding into the chair across from the two girls. Sarah sent him a glare, causing Coralie to chuckle.
“Being friends with Tyler has its benefits, sometimes” She replied, with a roll of her eyes before she went back to eating her own food.
“Why were you screaming at them anyway?” Nathaniel asked, sending worried looks at the two girls who were now both avoiding Sarah’s gaze and eating in complete silence. “How the hell did innocent, nerdy little Sarah Barrow manage that?”
“Don’t underestimate Sarah” Coralie responded, sending him a stern look that told him not to push the matter any further. Coralie had no idea how Sarah would react if she got too angry, nor did she really want to find out anytime soon.
“I have a feeling that no one will be doing that in the future” He responded, his eyes still glued to the two girls. He’d known Sarah for seven years now and not once had he ever seen someone act so scared of her. The three of them quickly fell into silence as well, though while Nathaniel’s seemed to be out of fear, Coralie was too busy thinking to even bother to start a conversation.
“Who died? ” Tyler asked in the most serious voice Coralie had ever heard him use, as he sat beside Sarah- despite the fact that Nathaniel and Coralie were now quite close, Tyler still believed he was the devil’s son.
“I’d been hoping it was you, to be quite honest” Nathaniel replied quickly, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. Coralie and Sarah shared a look before they both aimed swift kicks at Nathaniel, under the table. He sent both of them glares before sourly turning back to his lunch.
“No one died Tyler” Sarah responded, rolling her eyes at the two boys who were now locked in a staring contest with one another.
“Why are you all being so quiet then?” He asked, not looking away from Nathaniel for even a second. “Unless, you’re all plotting against me” He raised his voice slightly at this accusation but he didn’t dare look away. A minute later, Tyler reached out his arms and clapped right in front of Nathaniel’s face, causing him to blink. “Aha, I win!” He exclaimed.
“You cheated!” Nathaniel responded, his eyes blinking furiously. When Tyler ignored him, he sighed and turned back to his lunch once again. “Yes Angelo, I’ve corrupted the girls and we are now plotting your murder” Tyler gasped at this.
“I knew it!” He muttered to himself, sending a sharp glare over at Nathaniel before turning to Sarah and grabbing onto he hands. “Don’t kill me Sarah, remember how we were best friends- I was your first friend at Hogwarts!” He pleaded, Sarah rolled her eyes in response and stood up- Coralie following closely behind.
“It seems my memory has been removed” She joked, sticking her tongue out at Nathaniel who was almost rolling on the floor with laughter.
To say that the beginning of Angus’ fifth year at Hogwarts had been dull, would have been the biggest lie in the world- in fact, the first month had been so busy and eventful that it was surprise that he even had time to blink let alone go to classes.
Upon the return of Shelena to Hogwarts, Angus had taken up the position of mailer- Coralie was far too busy most of the time to even think about writing letters home, therefore he’d taken up the job of constantly updating Allisyn, Jacob and Violet at least twice a week.
As easy as it sounded originally, Angus had found that it was in fact quite difficult when it came down to it- sometimes there was hardly anything to report and he thought about skipping the letters, but his siblings were determined to know anything and everything that was going on. Other times, they was so much news that Angus found it hard to squeeze it all into a letter that wouldn’t have been able to pass for the five foot long essay due in Transfiguration.
He’d tried his hardest to keep his siblings calm, make sure that Jacob- who was by far the act-now, think-later kind of person, didn’t fly to Hogwarts and take Millen down all by himself. That in itself was difficult- without having to pretend to his mother that absolutely everything was alright.
He knew his mother had a reason to be nervous, there was something that she and Coralie hadn’t told the rest of them. Though to be fair, the five of them were keeping a massive secret from her- it made him wonder how much longer they’d be able to keep the charade up.
At that moment, Angus had just finished off yet another letter to Allisyn explaining all the details of the week that was just about to pass- nothing overly exciting had happened, though he made sure to mention that Millen had been acting slightly less hostile towards Coralie.
It was something that deeply bothered him- why would Shelena change her personality so quickly? Luckily for Angus, he’d picked up a few of the things Coralie’s friends had said and had pieced together that she’d somehow fainted in a corridor a few days back. Still, that was no reason to be going soft. Unless, unless Shelena had something planned- something terrible at the expense of Coralie.
He knew Coralie noticed that something was also wrong, in fact most of the school had picked up that something had changed with the girl- some were saying that she’d gone soft, that Coralie had given up Sirius and that Millen was now back with him. Angus knew this was a fat load of lies, mainly because Coralie didn’t have Sirius anymore and said boy seemed to hate Shelena more than anything.
He knew the history between the two of them, he had made it his business to know so that he would never miss a single thing. It was important that he knew absolutely every detail about the Millen girl, so that he would be able to tell his siblings. There was nothing they could miss for it could put Coralie in danger.
He’d soon discovered what life was like in the Millen household- her parents were David Millen, a pureblooded English man that worked in the Ministry, and Amelie Beaumont, a pureblooded French woman who had quite the reputation for getting in trouble. David, Shelena’s father, had died when she was only little and her mother seemed a little crazy as far as Angus knew.
Shelena had two siblings- Leo and another one, he’d been surprised to learn this but couldn’t find anything on the third Millen, only that it was a girl and she was younger than Shelena. He thought maybe the girl had died, but there was absolutely nothing on her. It worried him, what if the third Millen was their secret weapon?
The Bennett’s had absolutely nothing to protect themselves with.
Authors Note: So the last couple of updates have been super quick but the following chapter will be slightly delayed as I need to validate another story- I will be back straight after that chapter is up though with some more updates for you guys! Thank you forever.
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading
“Very good Miss Evans, another ten points for Gryffindor” Slughorn beamed down at Lily as she gave him another correct answer, “Now, off to work” He said, turning back to his desk as he began to fumble around in the pile of essay’s he had from his third year Potions class.
Lily turned to Remus- she’d considered herself quite lucky to be partner with him rather than James or Severus, it seemed that Slughorn had more tact than she had previously thought. Sure, she loved the Potions professor, he was in fact her favourite teacher, but sometimes the round man could be a little tactless when it came to ‘playing cupid’.
“Do you want to go get the ingredients or should I?” Remus asked, flashing her a small smile.
“I’ll get them” She responded, swinging her legs off the stool. “Do you want to get out the cauldron and everything?” He nodded, before she disappeared into the store room. She had almost collected all of the things they would need when Alice appeared in the door way.
“Are you alright?” She asked, catching Lily off guard slightly causing a glass container of Newt eyes to crash onto the floor.
“Reparo” Lily whispered, placing the fixed container back on the shelf before grabbing a few of the newt eyes off the floor and placing them back inside the glass. “Yeah, I’m fine- Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Lily, don’t play games with me- I’ve known you since first year” Alice responded calmly, though Lily could see the worry in her eyes. Alice had always been a wonderful friend to her, she picked up on Lily’s mood quicker than her own parents did sometimes and she was honestly the most caring person on the Earth, however...Alice was a worrier, so much so that sometimes she made herself ill by worrying about other people- it was her only flaw.
“Honestly Alice, I’m fine-I promise” Lily replied, grabbing the final ingredient and heading back to her table where James was now sitting in her seat. “Excuse me Potter” She said, trying to remain calm.
He looked up at her, with a wide smile on his face that went straight to his eyes. “Hello Lily” She nodded at him as he made his way back to his own table where Alice was placing their things down.
“You okay?” Remus asked, staring at her with a raised eyebrow- Lily blinked a few times before nodding, a small smile playing on her lips.
“I’m good, now shall we start on this Potion or what?”
Shelena,
What do you mean you have been unwell? The book mentions absolutely no effects, especially not while in the presence of the second girl. It must be something else, and don’t bother to tell me otherwise- You will do well to remember that I’m the one who will get rid of the Bennett’s and not you.
I hope you have been keeping a close eye on Bennett- look out for the little boy too, Angus, the two of them will definitely be planning something fishy and you don’t want to get caught by them, now do you?
I trust that you have a stronghold over your old friend’s, when the time comes I would hate for them to choose her side- it would only end in heartbreak for all of them.
Enjoy Hogwarts, and remember to say Hello to Bennett from me.
Leo.
Shelena sighed, throwing her letter back on the bed. She had received the letter from her brother three days ago and she was still angry over the patronizing tone he used with her. She was not a child, she hadn’t been one for years now and yet, he dared to think otherwise. If he were anyone but her older brother, she would have destroyed him by now.
She was the stronger one of the two despite what Leo believed, she would truly be the one who would stop this madness from happening to her. She would bring down the Bennett’s and she would be the one to enjoy her freedom, after all this feud had began because of what controlled her life- not anyone else’s.
She was far too proud to let Leo take all the glory, no, that wasn’t going to happen for as long as she was alive. She picked up the letter again, fully intending to send back an angry letter that would tell her older brother just where he could stick his letter when the dorm door flew open.
In walked Coralie and Kiki, arm in arm as they laughed madly at something. Shelena had never been fond of Kiki Soho, she found the girl to be infuriating and a try-hard. Maybe she disliked her because their personalities were so similar but she had never really put much thought into it.
“Do you mind?” Shelena snapped, glaring at the two girls who tried to cover their laughter with coughs unsuccessfully.
“Sorry Shelena” Coralie replied though her voice sounded sincere, Shelena refused to believe that she was actually sorry- No, she would just make a fool of herself if she let herself believe that Bennett was innocent.
“You should be” She replied just as cold as always before turning her attention back to the letter.
“Well, we’ll be going now anyway” Coralie said, grabbing an old gray cardigan that she always wore off the bottom of her bed and throwing it over her shoulders- Shelena thought that said cardigan was revolting but it seemed that Bennett actually thought it was cute or something.
“About time” Kiki sent her a withering glare but Shelena ignored it completely, re-reading the last line of Leo’s letter. Enjoy Hogwarts, and remember to say Hello to Bennett from me...say Hello to Bennett from me. “Oh and Coralie?” she called, her voice softening. Coralie nodded, her eyebrows raised slightly at the change in her mood. “Leo says Hello” She chuckled as the door slammed shut and the two girls’ footsteps travelled down the stairs.
“That ought to keep Bennett quiet for a while” She whispered to herself, picking up a quill and beginning to reply to her brother’s letter. “Now, to put Leo in his place”
James released the snitch once again, letting it hover just above his eye level before he reached out and caught it again. He did this several more times, before he eventually let the snitch just hover around by itself.
“For Merlin’s sake, would you stop playing with that stupid thing?” Sirius snapped, flailing his arms around in an attempt to catch the little golden ball- James could only laugh at his attempts before catching it between his two fingers and putting it back in his drawer.
“What’s got your panties in a twist?” He asked, falling back onto his bed. He could hear Sirius groan in response and knock something onto the floor.
“Take two guesses” He retorted, a large sigh escaping through his lips only seconds later. It was clear enough to what and who Sirius was referring too- Shelena. James had observed how his best friend had been acting since the return of his ex-girlfriend, it was horrible to see him so down.
“You can’t let her win Padfoot” James whispered “She’ll be here all year” Sirius muttered something in response, it sounded a little like a death threat.
“I just don’t understand why she came back” Sirius responded truthfully, his voice droppings slightly. James knew that the girl in question was a tough topic for his friend; in fact she was a tough topic for every Gryffindor in their year and is he wanted to further, it was possible that everyone in their year level was struggling with having her back.
“She likes to make people’s lives hell, you know that” James retorted, lying back on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. “She’s trying to tear us apart again” He added after a moment’s thought- the thought itself was terrible and James felt hesitant to let his mind wander to that possibility, but it was true.
“I know” Sirius whispered in reply, his voice was almost inaudible but somehow James had managed to catch his words.
“We can’t let her” James answered instantly. There was nothing he was more scared of than losing his best friends, without them he was nothing.
“We won’t” Sirius said confidently, sending a contagious grin over to James who responded just as enthusiastically.
“What a bitch” Kiki mumbled as the two of them made their way out to the Black lake- only a few minutes had passed since their unfournate run in with Shelena and Kiki was not taking it well. “I swear, I will kill her if she ever does anything like that again” She said seriously, looking Coralie dead in the eye- the latter rolled her eyes in response but threw her arms around her friend’s shoulders.
“And you will forever be my saviour” She chuckled, squeezing Kiki’s shoulder tightly as they continued to walk down the stairs.
“Are you sure it’s safe for us to be in the same place as the crazy one?” Kiki asked unsurely. Coralie chuckled again in response though she felt a little defensive for her other friend.
“It’s safe, and just so you know Kiki- His name is Tyler” Coralie replied sternly, wrapping her cardigan around herself tighter.
“Crazy one suits him better” She muttered under her breath to make sure Coralie didn’t hear her. She loved Coralie dearly but she was still essentially the ‘new girl’, she had a lot to learn about still.
“There they are!” Coralie grinned, making her way over to where her Ravenclaw friends were sitting. Kiki followed grudgingly behind, the only reason she’d really agreed to hanging out with Coralie- as much as she adored her, was because the other girls were either with their boyfriends or in the library and while Kiki didn’t have a boyfriend, she wouldn’t have been caught dead in the library either. She could have spent her time up in the dormitory, as was her original plan but after seeing Shelena up there, this was most likely the safer situation even if it meant spending time with some crazy Ravenclaw’s. “Guys, this is Kiki Soho- you should all know her but still...” Coralie trailed off for a moment as Kiki bought her focus back to the three Ravenclaw’s in front of her. “Kiki, Sarah Barrow” She pointed to the only girl whom Kiki noticed from a couple of her classes, “Tyler Angelo”
“Crazy one” Kiki muttered to herself, watching the boy in front of her with wonder as he attempted to do somersaults along the grass. She eventually pulled her eyes back to Coralie as she introduced the third friend of hers.
“Nathaniel Peakes” Coralie finished, letting the brown haired boy reach for Kiki’s right hand and place a soft kiss on it.
“Pleasure” He drawled with a wink in her direction, Kiki was quick enough to notice a small pang of sadness cross Coralie’s face before she replaced it with a smile. Though Nathaniel seemed to be completely clueless, Kiki picked up that Coralie must have had something for him and she found it difficult not to burst into giggles. “And Coralie, how are you beautiful?” Nathaniel said, turning to smirk at Coralie who chuckled and tried to hide her blush behind her curls.
“Oh, I’m very well thank you Nathaniel” She replied with a grin. Though Kiki found the entire ordeal with Coralie’s Ravenclaw friends as a bit of a worrying one, she couldn’t help but die a little inside every time her friend laughed or smiled at one of Nathaniel’s actions- it made her hope that if Coralie could find time to laugh in light of the situation then maybe the rest of her friends could too.
Authors Note: I know I said the next chapter would be a little longer but the queue was pretty much empty and I didn’t have the other story ready and so there was your chapter!
Disclaimer: The OC’s in this story as well as the plot were all created by me, All other things mentioned in this chapter and this story as a whole are property of J.K Rowling and the story title comes from Taylor Swift. Thank you for reading
Silence had become a usual trait of the seventh year Gryffindor girls while in their dormitory, but during the week before Halloween, little envelopes has appeared on all of their pillows (except for Shelena’s) that had them jump around their dormitory with joy.
The envelopes simply read:
You have been invited to the Marauder’s annual Halloween Party!
October 31st at 7pm until whenever in the Gryffindor Common Room, be there.
Though while some of the girls, mainly Lily and Kiki, still weren’t great friends with the Marauders, this party meant two very big things for all of them. One, they finally had a chance to let their hair down and not worry about their studies, though one or two of them- Kiki, again hadn’t really been worrying in the first place, and Two, Shelena wouldn’t be there and so, they had a chance to escape her even just for a night.
Shelena had made a habit of going for long walks around the castle from about six to ten/eleven o’clock at night, every Saturday night. And none of the girls could believe their luck- Halloween was on a Saturday that year. If it had been any day but Halloween, Coralie would have wondered if the Marauders had planned it that way but it seemed this time like they didn’t have to.
Luckily, they wouldn’t need to worry about younger Gryffindors or people in other houses telling Shelena about said party- it was strictly against Marauders rules to speak about their parties until afterwards and while some people questioned this, the ones who told would always end up in the Hospital Wing after suffering from hexes or the like. Needless to say, the girls were all excited about the party.
“I have no idea what I’m going to go as this year!” Mary exclaimed, picking the letter up from her bed and hiding it as the rest of them had done previously- they didn’t want the chances for Shelena, who was once again missing, to find them.
“I was thinking of going as a devil” Kiki exclaimed, staring at her reflection in the mirror as she pretended to have horns.
“Sure would suit you” Lily teased, poking her tongue out at Kiki who rolled her eyes before giving her a rude hand gesture.
“What about the rest of you?” Kiki asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “I know I’m not the only one with ideas!”
“I was thinking of perhaps a Greek goddess” Marlene answered, looking up from the page of her fashion magazine. Kiki nodded and lifted the one side of her mouth into a smirk.
“Easily done, you just need a sheet and some gold jewellery” Marlene nodded, her eyes travelling back to the page she was reading. “Alice?”
“No idea yet” She responded with a relaxed shrug of her shoulders. Kiki sat down on the edge of her bed and began to think of ideas of what the others girls would be able to wear. The girls soon fell back into silence, though it was much more comfortable than what they were used to. It didn’t however last very long, soon enough- Shelena strutted in, her head held high as she grabbed her pyjamas and went into the bathroom.
The girls all shared knowing looks, it meant Shelena was ready for bed and when Shelena was ready for bed- everyone went bed. Coralie let out a sigh, getting into her own pyjamas before crawling into bed. Within minutes the light was turned off and the dormitory was returned to its awkward state.
The rest of the week passed quickly, and Kiki had soon picked out everyone’s costumes for the Halloween party that very night. They eagerly awaited six o’clock so that Shelena would leave for her walk and they would be able to start getting ready, and though it seemed to take forever when six o’clock did come around- Shelena promptly disappeared.
“About bloody time” Kiki exclaimed, throwing the magazine she had pretended to be reading to the end of her bed before grabbing out the costumes she had found for everyone, she distributed them before letting everyone get changed into them. True to her word, she had dressed as a devil- with red horns on top of her hair, little red wings and an attachable tail at the back of a skin tight red dress that she had ‘lying in her trunk’.
She had found a Greek goddess costume for Marlene and paired it with a few pieces of gold jewellery from everyone’s trunks. She’d dressed Lily up as a Garden fairy with a green dress that matched her eyes perfectly and a pair of white wings. Alice was dressed up as ‘sexy auror’ which Kiki had promised she could keep to ‘entertain’ Frank when the holidays came, though Alice turned pink at this comment she didn’t make a fuss about the short skirt. Mary was wearing a Quidditch uniform made for little children and was carry around a plush beater’s bat to complete the costume. While Miranda had dressed herself up as a zombie bride, the other girls were trying to tease her hair which kept going back to its usual perfect self when Coralie finally made her way out of the bathroom as the last one to change.
Kiki had found her a 1920’s flapper costume, complete with a black dress which fringe’s shook every time she moved with a pair of fishnets underneath, simple black heels and a feather headband. She had tied her hair back into a messy bun too.
“Wow, Nathaniel’s going to die when he sees you in that” Kiki smirked, it was the exact thought that had played in her mind the moment she saw the dress and she had made it her personal mission to get the two of them together that night. It had made her even happy when she learnt that Nathaniel had asked Coralie to the party.
“Kiki, don’t be silly!” Coralie replied, a blush appearing on her cheeks immediately. She knew there was no point trying to hide it thought, all of her friends had already seen it.
“Oh, Peakes?” Mary asked, letting out an excited squeal.
“He’s cute” Lily mused, raising her eyebrows at Coralie slightly but did not bother to push the subject any further, nor did any of the other girls. They had all agreed not to push each other into telling their crushes, it never ended well.
“Come on then, we should get downstairs” Marlene added, the girls all following behind her. The common room had been changed into a creepy looking mansion with fake cobwebs hanging from the roof and goblets full of butterbeer that Remus had transfigured to look like blood occupied the far corner. All in all, the boys had done an amazing job in making it look all Halloween-y and the girls were more excited than ever before.
“I have to go pick up Nathaniel” Coralie grinned, turning on her heel and exiting the portrait hole while her friends watched after her.
“Ten galleons says they end up together by the end of tonight” Kiki smirked, turning to her friends who all nodded in agreement as they watched Coralie disappear. Said girl was able to catch their conversation and rolled her eyes at her friend’s actions.
She liked Nathaniel, she knew that for sure but that didn’t mean the two of them were going to end up together like her friends seemed to think. It was more complicated than that, Coralie scoffed at herself. Life itself was complicated without this stupid thing that would affect her. She’d been able to push that thought to the back of her mind since school had returned, she’d been too busy to even bother thinking about it but now that she was able to let go even just for a night, all her worries were back.
“Damn” She whispered to herself before squeezing her eyes as tightly together as she possibly could.
“You alright Cors?” Coralie blinked her eyes open, turning to stare Nathaniel in the face. He was watching her with a worried look in his eyes and she only noticed then that he had this hand on her shoulder, she turned to stare at it slightly before he awkwardly dropped it to his side.
“Yeah, I’m fine!” She said, her voice came out slightly squeaky but she covered it with a cough. “Just a little warm here” Nathaniel sent her an odd look and for a moment Coralie felt like she’d grown an extra head or something.
“Hey!” Sarah interrupted, joining the two of them in a floor length red cape with the hood pulled up and a simple black dress that reached just below her knees. Behind her, Tyler appeared wearing what looked to be a painted box.
“What exactly are you supposed to be?” Nathaniel asked, tilting his head slightly to the side as if it would help him work out what Tyler’s costume was.
“I’m a muggle aeroplane. Why don’t people see it?” He huffed, pushing past Nathaniel and Coralie with the two large wings he’d attached to either side of his box. Sarah sighed, following after her friend in an attempt to calm him down slightly, leaving Nathaniel and Coralie to tag along behind them.
“Do you see it?” Nathaniel leant in and whispered once they were a safe distance from Tyler, Coralie giggled slightly and shook her head truthfully. In her defence, she and Nathaniel were both purebloods and therefore they didn’t really know much about muggle life at all while Tyler was a half blood and had more experience then both of them put together.
“Come on then” Sarah yelled back at them though her eyes were twinkling with happiness. It made Coralie wonder whether she too believed what her Gryffindor friends thought, did Sarah think she and Nathaniel were together? She mentally shook the thought from her head, Sarah wasn’t the kind of girl to care about those things usually. Sarah loved class, books and having fun- she wasn’t some crazed fan girl. It must have been some other reason why Sarah was so happy, Coralie couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with Tyler.
Soon enough, the four of them arrived at the entrance for the Gryffindor common room, Coralie stood forward and gave the password before they all slipped inside. The party had already started, loud music was playing and a large group of people had already begun to dance.
“Have I told you I like your costume?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he leant in and whispered to her.
“No” Coralie half-chuckled, waving at Lily who was standing in the corner with Marlene and some other girl that Coralie couldn’t place, she wasn’t entirely sure what the other girl was supposed to be but she figured it was something muggle. Coralie turned her attention back to Nathaniel.
“Alright, did that count or are you expecting me to say it again?” he added, biting down on his lip nervously. Coralie shook her head, a smile gracing her lips.
“It’s fine Nathaniel” she said, lacing their hands together as they both made their way over to James who was greeting everyone as they walked in.
“Cora!” he yelled over the music as they got closer, he threw his arms around her before he checked out her costume. “Nathaniel, mate” Nathaniel looked taken aback- Coralie figured he was just as surprised in James’ attitude as she was. Before either got a chance to respond, he disappeared into the crowd again.
The two of them turned to stare at each other, before heading towards the drinks table which had been set up in the corner of the room. The other three Marauders were standing there, quietly which gave Coralie and apparently a few other guests the suspicion that they were planning something. They looked almost too solemn though, apart from James who was quite clearly completely off his face.
“What’s wrong with them?” Sarah whispered as she joined Coralie and Nathaniel at the table. All three of them stared at the boys, before looking back at each other.
“No idea” Coralie whispered in response as Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders- he didn’t really care anyway. Sarah disappeared back into the crowd with her drink and as Coralie watched her go she noticed her in the crowd- Shelena was dancing up a storm with Alex, which explained the sour look on Kiki’s face. In fact, it explained everything.
She wanted to go comfort Kiki, tell her that Shelena was just a slag and Alex didn’t deserve her but she found herself keeping even closer to Nathaniel. She wouldn’t put it past Shelena to start something in front of everyone.
“Do you want to go dance?” he asked, putting his drink down on the table and leading her onto the dance floor- far away from Shelena, which she was more than happy about. They passed Tyler who had taken his costume slightly too literally in the way he was dancing while Sarah stayed to the side and watched with wide eyes. The pair danced around to the new Weird Sisters song and the one after that until they decided to take a break.
A drink later and a few more dances, Coralie felt her head spinning around. She could hardly focus on the music anymore or who was standing next to her- she felt like she was going mad. She could somewhat see the weird looks some people were giving her and the worried looks of Nathaniel, Lily and Remus.
“Cors?” she could hear Lily say over the music but she couldn’t see where Lily was standing.
“What’s wrong with her?” Nathaniel asked, placing his cold hand on her forehead. She wanted to tell him that she felt fine, even though it was a complete lie, she didn’t want attention right now.
“Someone turn off the music!” Sirius yelled- confusing Coralie even more. What the hell was going on?
“Sirius?” she whispered, and within seconds she could roughly make out Sirius’ face.
“What is it Cors?” he asked nervously, biting down on his lip as he too placed his hand over her forehead. She scrunched her eyes closed as someone turned on the lights- it was far too bright for her.
“Where’s Nathaniel?” she asked and Sirius’ face dropped into a frown, he nodded solemnly before moving out of the way to let Nathaniel sit beside Coralie. She smiled up at him softly which he gladly returned.
“We should get her to her Hospital Wing” Lily cut in, breaking the silence of the room. Nathaniel nodded and carefully picked up Coralie bridal style- she buried her face into his cape as the entire party made room for him to fit through. Once out in the common room, Nathaniel chuckled slightly.
“You sure are one chaotic girl Cors” she sighed, squeezing his shoulder softly like she was agreeing. Neither of them said anything for the rest of the walk up to Hospital Wing, though Nathaniel constantly checked that Coralie hadn’t passed out on him. “Madam Pomfrey?” he called, pushing the big wooden doors open. The young healer appeared out of a curtain that was pulled closed, her eyes widening at the sight.
“What’s happened?” she demanded, ushering Nathaniel over to one of the spare beds where he placed Coralie. He shrugged his shoulders, not being able to find words to describe what had happened- he didn’t really know.
“She just went....weird” he started, his eyes searching the room nervously. “She was fine one minute and then the next, she was on the floor” Madam Pomfrey frowned, waving her wand to get rid of the small amount of blood that had appeared on her head when she’d hit the floor.
“Did she eat, Mr Peakes?” she asked, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.
“I think so, I only met up with her after dinner” he answered truthfully and Madam Pomfrey smiled- she disappeared around the corner for a moment and so Nathaniel pulled up a chair to Coralie’s bedside.
“I’m taking it that she drank something” she said when she reappeared with a handful of different vials of potions. Nathaniel nodded in response and she sighed, “I thought so” she held poured out a blue coloured potion and took it to Coralie’s lips. “I fear someone was playing with her drink”
“What do you mean?” Nathaniel asked instantly, his eyes widening. In all honestly, he knew what she meant but it baffled him completely- who would want to put something in Coralie’s drink? Unless...unless, it wasn’t made for her. It could have been for him and he rising suspicion who would do exactly that. Madam Pomfrey smiled knowingly at him before tipping another potion down Coralie’s throat.
“Come back and visit her tomorrow Mr Peakes?” she said, pulling the covers over Coralie. He nodded and made to leave before Coralie grasped onto his hand, she was looking a little bit better and more like she knew what was going on than she previously had. He smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek softly.
“I’ll alert your fellow lions” she nodded, mouthing a thank-you- she still hadn’t got her voice back yet. He raised his top hat jokingly and left the Hospital Wing, leaving Coralie to turn over in her bed and smile. Sure, she’d ended up there but spending the night with Nathaniel...well, it was definitely worth it.
Authors Note: So hey guys, I became a Trusted Author this week which is so totally awesome! I actually had this chapter ready but I've been far too worried to post it, so thank you to TenthWeasley, Caomoyl, AquariaJasmyne and Giola for helping me work through that! Now that I have TA status, I am planning on updating every Friday/Saturday (depending on where you live) so I shall see you all next week!
Disclaimer: The OC's in this plot as well as fragements of the plot were created by me. The story title comes from a song of the same name by Taylor Swift, I do not claim ownership to it. Everything else belongs to the amazing J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading.
Sirius felt like kicking something. No, that was an understatement. He felt like set the entirety of Hogwarts alight and standing out the front while he watched it burnt...Maybe that was too far. He’d rather just stick that stupid Ravenclaw in a room and torture him until he couldn’t even remember his own name...
“Plotting Peakes’ death yet?” Peter cut his trail of thought off and Sirius turned to glare at him. The latter plopped on his bed and pulled out a letter he’d been sent by his mother a few days previous.
“Shut up Wormtail” he spat and Peter chuckled slightly, placing the letter back on his bedside table.
“I knew you’d be pissed off” he said with a sing song voice, Sirius ignored him completely. “You wanna talk Padfoot?” he whispered, staring over at his friend solemnly.
“First Shelena turns up and then she asks for Peakes, I mean PEAKES! Out of everyone” Peter jumped slightly as his friend threw the book on Animagi he’d previously been reading to the floor with a thump.
“Padfoot...You broke up with-” Sirius turned to glare at Peter which caused him to shut up immediately. Sirius could be more than scary when he wanted to. “Sirius, I’m sorry but you did. You can’t just expect her to forget that, she’s moving on now”
“She can’t” he whispered, dropping back onto his bed and bringing his hands to his face.
“Why not?” Peter asked, moving to sit next to his friend. Sirius sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
“I didn’t want to break up with her Wormtail” He revealed, sighing slightly as he pulled on parts of his hair. Peter frowned in response, place one hand on his friend’s shoulder to try and comfort him.
Peter wasn’t great at comforting people, sometimes he just made it worse for people by opening his mouth but the other three Marauders had been there for him and he was absolutely determined to be there for them. Shelena had never particularly cared for him, in fact she was by far her least favourite Marauder. This had upset him for years, but eventually he had given up on the prospect of ever getting higher on that list. It wasn’t worth it. Since then, he’d made sure that his friends would never be hurt by Millen again.
“Why did you do it then Padfoot?” He asked, trying to be as tactful about it as he possibly could. His friend looked up and stared at him and for a moment Peter thought he was about to get screamed at, but Sirius only let his gaze fall back to the floor.
“Shelena” He whispered and Peter frowned, what was he going on about? “Shelena was there, she was at James’ that night” Sirius took a deep breath; his voice had become shaky in the middle of his sentence. “I got so angry with her, you know how she makes me get and then Coralie appeared and...” He took another deep breath, “I hate myself for it Wormtail”
“It’ll get better, I promise Padfoot” He whispered, unsure of what else he was supposed to say to get his friend to calm down.
“She’ll never get back with me” Sirius said so quietly that Peter literally had to strain his ear to hear, the tone his friend used had broken his heart.
“That’s not true” He added, staring his friend directly in the eyes. Sirius however kept his gaze stuck to the floor. “Everything is possible Padfoot, just believe in yourself” Peter sighed softly, patting his friend on the shoulder once more before he headed back down to the common room to help James and Remus clean up.
Coralie stared up at the roof of the hospital wing for what felt like the millionth time, and she had only been counting since she had finished breakfast. She’d woken up at that moment at about seven to find Madam Pomfrey standing over her with some potions that the young healer had told her would help with the pain, at that time Coralie had wondered what pain she was talking about...but now, now she understood.
In fact, Coralie would go as far to say that she had never experienced more pain than she had at that exact moment. Every single inch of her body hurt and some parts even felt like they were on fire, yet no matter how much ice or cooling potion Madam Pomfrey they didn’t feel any better. She was considering asking for another Dreamless Sleep potion- as it was the only way Coralie could escape her pain when Nathaniel made his way into the hospital wing.
“Hey you” He grinned, placing a kiss on her forehead which would have made Coralie’s toes tingle if she hadn’t been in so much pain. Coralie wasn’t sure exactly when Nathaniel had decided that he would start kissing her cheek and/or forehead, but at the same time Coralie wasn’t sure whether she enjoyed it or not.
“Hi” She said weakly, her ribs beginning to sting slightly as she spoke though she point blank refused to voice her complaints.
“How are you feeling?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly and his pulled a chair up beside her bed. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, a sharp pain crossing her back as she did causing her to wince slightly. “Did Madam Pomfrey work out what you drank yet?”
“Not yet, she says it would have been something really strong though to work so quickly” Nathaniel nodded in agreement, before he began to rack his mind for poisons that worked quickly- the only ones he could think of were muggle and Madam Pomfrey had said that they had definitely been magical. And so, he was back to where he started...nowhere.
“I’ve been thinking Cors” He started, she sent him a teasing look and he didn’t have to be a mind reader to be able to work out what she wanted to say. “What if that drink wasn’t made for you?” Coralie raised her eyebrow at him slightly; she bit down on her lip.
“Who do you think it was made for then?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to flick through who had been at the party and whether she could think of anyone who wanted them gone, but no one instantly came to mind.
“I think it might have been made, for me” He said unsurely, watching her reaction closely. At first she frowned but her expression quickly turned to a humorous one.
“And who exactly would be poisoning you Nate?” She asked, her eyes widening slightly. “I mean, I know you are a Ravenclaw and all but we Gryffindors aren’t that hostile towards other houses” Nathaniel only shook his head at this statement and stared her directly in the eyes.
“I’ve got an idea on who it might have been” Coralie motioned for him to continue and so he took a deep breath, “I think it was Black” Coralie blinked a couple of times at this.
“Sirius?” She choked out, the weakness in her voice had returned.
“Yes, Cors. Everyone knows that he still fancies you, after what happened with Millen he probably sees me as a threat or something” Coralie stared at him oddly; she was almost waiting for him to break into laughter or something and exclaim that he was joking.
“Sirius wouldn’t try to poison you Nate, that’s stupid. The two of you may not get along but still, he wouldn’t go that far” Nathaniel laughed bitterly this time.
“Just think about it Coralie” He said, standing up and making his way out of the Hospital Wing as her Gryffindor friends made their way in. Coralie made sure to note the hostile glare between Nathaniel and Sirius as they passed each other. Would Sirius really have gone that far to get her back?
“Hey, you okay?” Alice asked, furrowing her eyebrows tightly as they all watched Coralie stare blankly at the door.
“Yeah” She whispered, snapping her attention back to her friends though she found herself keeping an eye on Sirius. She hated Nathaniel for mentioning it because now, she’d never be able to keep the thought out of her head.
Marcelle placed the high stack of books she had picked from the shelves onto the little table she had set up in the library over a year ago now. Coralie and Angus had returned to Hogwarts and were being swamped with their homework while Jacob had returned to his job in a local muggle cafe while he waited for his ‘big musical break’ and Violet had gone back to taking art lessons and so finally, she had time to do a little studying of her own.
With a sigh, she realised she’d been in for a full week of nothing but studying old books but she was determined to do it. The curse had been on her mind ever since Coralie had left and due to the fact the curse mentioned two families, she realised there would be no way to break it without the second family and that would require some serious snooping.
She thought about getting in contact with her step-mother as she was the one to inform Marcelle of the curse in the first place but she would have much rather poke her own eyes out with forks that have a conversation with that dreadful woman. At this thought, she opened the first book, titled ‘Arbre Généalogique’ and began to skim through the pages.
As far as she knew, the curse begun with one Sylvie Green in the late 1700’s and so that was where she begun. She’d always envied her ex-husbands side of the family for the history they had, they could trace their ancestors back for twelve generations which led back to the French Revolution. And there, in the eleventh generation was Sylvie Green, her husband Abel and her three children, Albert, Cybil and Romane. Romane was the first girl- the first one in the family line to ever suffer from the curse.
If there was any hope of finding this other family or anything about the curse whatsoever, it was going to be from studying Romane’s life. Pushing the first book to the side, while making some to keep the page with Romane’s name open, she picked up the second book. The diary of Sylvie Green, she knew Coralie had read a few pages of the diary and she had discovered a few things about Sylvie’s life, but Marcelle knew exactly what to look for and she knew it was in there.
Dear Journal,
My dearest Romane has fallen ill once again; she can hardly walk or speak this time. I fear this may be the last time I’ll ever see her. It breaks my heart; I am not ready to say another goodbye to someone before their time. Henri says we should find the Tasse’s again, says that everything that is happening to do with Romane has something to do with those words mother said before she burnt- I do not understand how he remembers them when I have tried so hard to forget them. I am scared, I haven’t seen Edouard or Richaud since they left France, will they even remember me?
Sylvie Green.
Marcelle let out a sigh of relief an hour later, she had finally found a piece that mentioned another family- she had read enough entries to know of the deep love Sylvie had for her daughter- one that made Marcelle’s heart pang to have all of her children safe and with her for every hour of the day no matter how unfair it would be to them, but finally- She had names- Edouard and Richaud Tasse, she was finally one step closer to finding the second family.
After her Gryffindor friends had finally decided to let her sleep, Coralie had promptly dozed off- finding herself to be more tired than she had originally thought she was, it wasn’t until she heard an ear pitching scream that she awoke from her slumber. She managed to rub the sleep out of her eyes before the Hospital wing was filled with another scream.
“Bloody hell, stop it!” A voice screeched, then there were a few loud bangs and crashes before Coralie finally realised who the voice belonged to.
“Sarah?” She asked, staring at the mess of limbs that was now at the bottom of her bed. “And Tyler? I should have known”
“I was just proving to Sarah that I could scream like a girl” Tyler said matter of factly, as if Coralie wouldn’t be able to tell him off because of it.
“Yeah, Tyler?” Sarah started, and as Tyler turned to face her she whacked him over the head a couple of times. “I never asked you to prove it”
“She lies” Tyler said simply, turning back to Coralie as he rubbed his head solemnly. Coralie couldn’t help but laugh at her two friends’ antics though it pained both of her sides to do so, she could always trust Sarah and Tyler to make her laugh when no one else could.
“Thank you for coming to visit me guys” She said with a smile and while Sarah and Tyler smiled back straight away, another well aimed smack on the back of his head quickly got rid of Tyler’s.
“I told him we should let you sleep but you know what he’s like, never listens to a word anyone says” She rolled her eyes but was still smiling widely at the other two. Coralie figured it was nice for Sarah, she knew she didn’t get along with the Ravenclaw girls because she was friends with Tyler, though Coralie found it extremely amazing that Sarah remained friends with said boy. Therefore, Sarah didn’t really have many friends that were girls or were sane, completely unlike Tyler.
“It’s fine, It’s nice to be able to talk to people actually” Coralie sighed slightly, moving her left arm slightly so it wasn’t burning her stomach when it felt like it had been set on fire every five or so minutes. “Other people have come to visit but they’ve been so wrapped up with who did this that I would have preferred to be alone”
“Don’t worry, we won’t ask if you don’t want to talk about it. Just remember that we are here if you need us” Sarah smiled, taking the seat next to Coralie while Tyler pulled one up from another bed. The three of them talked for a while, about nothing in particular really but Coralie found it refreshing to not have to worry about who had put her in the Hospital Wing and why. Eventually, the two of them had to leave to head to dinner but promised to come back and visit her the very next day.
She was just getting herself ready for her own dinner- which meant basically shuffling up in her bed slightly and trying not to be sick in the process, when the Hospital Wing door flew open once more. As Coralie was the only one in the Hospital Wing at that point, she figured the guest must have been for her but she couldn’t think of anyone else who wanted to come and see her, Angus had popped in and told her that he would be back to visit tomorrow as did almost everyone else she knew. Suddenly, whoever had come into the wing had lifted Coralie up in her bed so that she could see them properly.
“Shelena?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly at the sight in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to visit” She smirked in reply, taking the seat beside her bed that Sarah had been sitting only a few moments ago. “It’s been hard to try and get you alone all day; you’ve had people visiting you every hour”
“What do you want?” Coralie asked forcefully, the pain was still strong inside her chest when she spoke but she was still determined to ignore it.
“I just came to warn you” Shelena started, before pausing for a moment to look around the empty Hospital wing.
“Warn me about what exactly?” Coralie snapped in reply instantly. She didn’t like to play games with Shelena, she didn’t like to play games full stop.
“Maybe you should start paying more attention to what you drink Bennett” she commented coldly, raising her eyebrows in a teasing way. “Maybe next time Peakes won’t be around to save you” Coralie could feel herself paling slightly, it made sense now- Shelena had been the one to mess with her drink. It was no secret that Shelena wanted Coralie gone and that was why Coralie felt so dumb when she realised it- it was right in front of her all along.
“You can give up now Shelena, I don’t want Sirius. He’s all yours” Coralie said, her eyes pleading with Shelena to leave her alone.
“Touching” Shelena smirked, rolling her eyes and pursing her lips together. “The thing is Bennett. It never mattered if you didn’t want Sirius, it only matters if he wants you and until that goes away, I’m always going to be watching you” she turned on her heel and began to walk out of Hospital wing, Coralie found herself being lost for words before finally she was able to scream out.
“Tell him then” The words came spilling out of her mouth before she could stop them- they’d obviously caught the other girl’s attention as she spun around immediately. “Tell him I don’t want him; tell him I’m with Nathaniel now. I’ll back you up” Shelena pursed her lips together again before nodding once; she disappeared out of the Hospital wing without saying another word.
Coralie let out a sigh, leaning her head back against the pillow. She felt like rolling over and suffocating herself because of her actions. What the hell had she just done? It was true, she didn't want Sirius anymore but she knew Sirius certainly didn't want Shelena. He would have rather gone to Azkaban. He was going to find out- she knew Shelena wouldn't wait a single moment to go and tell him especially considering how much she loved making people's lives hell.
There was always the example of her poisoning Coralie, wasn't there? Coralie grinded her teeth together slightly, she couldn't believe that she'd completely forgotten about how much Shelena wanted her gone. It wasn't overly surprising that she would have down something like that; in fact it was very much in character for Shelena.
She couldn't believe that the thought hadn't even crossed her mind once- it should have been the first thing she thought of, after all Leo and Shelena were practically the same. It should have been obvious but instead Coralie had been worrying about having someone else out there to get her or as Nathaniel believed, the drink being made for him. But no, only in a perfect world would something like that not be made out for Coralie.
She needed to tell Nathaniel, before he went and did something he'd regret like confront Sirius about it or something. That was going to end terribly. Yet, Coralie was stuck in the Hospital Wing with no way to contact him. It would be dinner for everyone at that moment therefore no one would visit until later tonight, if not then in the morning. Nathaniel could have done something by then.
Authors Note: First things first, ‘Arbre Généalogique’ means Family Tree in French. Secondly, I have decided to now update every Monday and Friday so that I can finish off this story a little quicker. So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you Friday.
Disclaimer: The OC's in this plot as well as fragments of the plot were created by me. The story title comes from a song of the same name by Taylor Swift, I do not claim ownership to it. Everything else belongs to the amazing J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading.
When Coralie woke up the next morning, she was half surprised that the Dreamless Sleep potion Madam Pomfrey had bought her before she had gone to sleep had even worked. She’d been so nervous about Nathaniel that she had been sure that some kind of dream would have slipped through, true to its name though, not a single dream made its way into her mind.
Now that she was awake though, it was a completely different story. Her mind was hell bent on exploring absolutely every single possibility of the way Nathaniel and Sirius’ conversation could play out. First she had imagined the violent ending, they had been screaming at each other and then began to throw hexes at one another until they both ended up in the Hospital wing. Another turn out had been Sirius admitting it, though Coralie knew otherwise she could see Sirius agreeing just to annoy the hell out of Nathaniel. Either way, or any of the other ways she had thought about- it wouldn’t be pretty.
“Anyone home in there?” Coralie snapped herself back into focus, noticing that Angus was now sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at her with teasing eyes.
“Just dreaming about a little brother who actually comes to visit me” She teased, poking his tongue out at him. He laughed in return and stuck his tongue back out at her.
“I see you’re feeling better” He teased, crossing his legs on the end of her bed. She smiled down at him and shifted her legs a little so he could sit comfortably.
“I found out who did this” She whispered and the smile was immediately wiped from his face, the look in his eyes told her to go on when he couldn’t find the words. “It was Shelena, I know you’re going to say that I’m just being prejudiced but she came in her last night and told me to my face”
“Are you sure?” Angus asked worriedly, she gave one stiff nod and he closed his eyes and bit down on his lip. “I have to tell Jacob now, I’ll be back later though. Promise!” He said, tearing out of the hospital wing quicker than Coralie had the chance to reply. She could hardly believe how mature her little brother had grown up to be in such a short time.
Dear Lily,
I’m afraid this letter may not make much sense, I begged your sister to send it for me but she refused, you know how she gets but I am writing this letter so that I can inform you that your father has fallen ill. He was perfectly fine the other night but he started complaining about chest pains and you know how paranoid I can be, needless to say we took him to the Doctor’s and they believe he has an infection of some kind. They say he will get better but I didn’t want to keep you in the dark. I hope you are enjoying school anyway and we all love and miss you back at home
Mum, xoxo.
Lily could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest. No, it couldn’t be true. Her father was brilliant, he loved everyone and everything no matter what. He couldn’t be sick. Despite what her mother said, she knew what infections and chest pains could mean- he had a hard road in front of him and Lily found herself praying that he would pull through. She couldn’t live without him, he had to pull through.
“Lily?” A voice asked, she realised it to be James’ instantly and so she wiped the tear from under her eye and put on a brave face.
“Yes, Potter?” She asked, trying desperately to pretend that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her or anything part in her life right now. Oh, how hard she tried. It didn’t last long though, he only had to send her that questioning look and she had burst into tears.’
“Oh Merlin, Lily- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry, oh please stop!” He begged and if Lily hadn’t received that letter from her mother, she would have laughed about how much of a little boy he sounded like when he begged but her situation changed her entire reaction, instead she found herself crying harder.
“I’m sorry” She managed to get out between her sobs just as he had somehow managed to move next to her and wrap his arms around her.
“It’s alright. Do you want to talk about it?” He asked softly and Lily could hardly believe her ears. She’d been told that James really had a good heart inside from many people- Coralie, Miranda, Alice and many others but she had never believed them, but in that moment she began to realise that they may have been right.
“My dad” She whispered, holding back another sob before she continued. “He’s sick” James stared at her solemnly before squeezing her arm softly.
“I’m so sorry Lily” He whispered, before adding. “I hope he gets better soon though. If he is anything like you Lils, then he’ll pull through” Lily nodded and chuckled softly, her mother always told her that she had the same temper as him. She was so much more like him than her.
“Thank you James, honestly” She smiled at him, “I owe you for this” He smiled right back at her, squeezing her arm again before letting his hand fall back to his side.
“Just happy to be of your service Miss Evans” James joked, taking Lily’s hand in his and kissing it softly. “And remember, I’ll always be around if you ever need me. Seriously, any time of the day and anywhere. I’ll be there”
“Thank you James” Lily whispered once more, letting James disappear back into a corridor with a tiny smile on his face.
Coralie smiled over at Nathaniel, grateful that he hadn’t ended up going after Sirius the night before and had instead spent his evening studying different wizard poisons. She was even more grateful when he whole-heartedly believed her when she said it was Shelena who made the drink, though Nathaniel still seemed to believe that the drink could have been made for either of them. It was a valid point, she hated both of them so even having one of them down would be much easier for her.
“When do you think Madam Pomfrey will let you out of here?” Nathaniel asked, snapping Coralie back into reality. “Has she even worked out which poison Millen used yet?” He added, sending a glare in the direction of said healer’s office.
“Nate, don’t insult her while I’m still stuck in here” Coralie said, her eyes widening slightly to make her point. “She’s been looking after other people as well, She’ll figure it out soon!” Nathaniel rolled his eyes, Coralie knew that he thought Madam Pomfrey to be useless though Coralie herself felt differently. “And as for when I’ll be out, it could be any time this week”
“I don’t like you being in here” Nathaniel said truthfully, running his fingers through his hair before Coralie laced their fingers together in order to calm him down. “She can get to you far too easily in her for my liking” Though the sentiment was sweet Coralie couldn’t help but to roll her eyes at him.
“She can get to me just as easily in my own bed” Coralie replied seriously, while the thought was scary in itself it was completely true. What was stopping Shelena from using a little vial of poison during the night to knock Coralie off?
“At least then you have the girls to look after you, Lily and I have already agreed that we need to look out for you more” Nathaniel retorted with a smug smile, as a Ravenclaw he loved being able to show off his wit against Coralie who sometimes found it a little tiresome.
“What in Merlin’s name were you doing talking to Lily?” Coralie asked, a little bit of anger seeping through in her voice. She had always tried her best to keep calm but there were always those little things that threatened to snap her in two.
“I didn’t tell her about Shelena, we just both agreed that we need to make sure you were never alone” Coralie scoffed, the idea was absolutely stupid. Sure, she’d been frightened by what Shelena had done but that didn’t mean she was willing to lose her freedom.
“That’s not going to happen Nate” She said, squishing the anger inside of her down as much as she possibly could. “I need time alone, I need to be able to think sometimes”
“You will be able to think” Nathaniel breathed, rubbing his eyes slightly. It was obvious that he too was fighting down his anger. “I just want to look after you, okay?”
“I know” Coralie whispered and he smiled brightly, knowing that he had won over her. “Just be warned, I already have a big brother to protect me- I don’t need another one” Nathaniel let his smile falter for a minute before he shook his head and sighed in relief, leaning back into the chair.
Angus,
I’m not completely sure whether I understood your letter correctly, you mean to tell me that Coralie was poisoned by the Millen girl? I hope this is some kind of sick joke, for that bitch’s sake at least- I’m going to tear her apart.
I’ve told Violet and she demands to know whether Coralie is alright, we plan to pop over to Hogsmeade village next week so you and Coralie can meet up with us and tell us absolutely everything you know- no holding back or keeping anyone safe. We need to step our protection up and it seems they have stepped up their attack. Make sure you keep an eye on Cora and our cover story for mother is that she got food poisoning.
Enjoy the rest of the week and remember to keep Allisyn posted.
Jacob and Violet.
Authors Note: And there you go, Chapter Forty Two! Sorry this chapter is quite a lot smaller than usual, I promise the next chapter picks up. Not much to say this time guys but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I will you see on Monday with Chapter Forty Three!
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are the only things that belong to me. The story title belongs to Taylor Swift and the rest is property of J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading.
Three days later, after spending exactly a week in the Hospital Wing, Coralie was finally released the morning before the first Hogsmeade trip. She would have been excited, especially since Nathaniel had promise that the two of the would hang out all day but her brother had informed her last night that Jacob and Violet were coming to visit and there was no way she’d be able to escape. As much as she loved her older siblings, she knew what this ‘catch up lunch’ would be about and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to go down well.
With a sigh, she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck- it was clear that winter was coming soon with the sudden drop in temperatures to the point where people had bought out their scarves and gumboots earlier than the previous year all around her.
She climbed into the carriage behind Angus, who didn’t look overly happy to be spending this cold day outside- he much preferred the warm weather as did Coralie. Though neither of them spoke, it was easy to tell they were both wishing for this meeting to be up quickly so they could go back to their friends or to their beds. But knowing Jacob, it wouldn’t be that simple- he would want to know absolutely everything right down to the exact moment Coralie had put the first spoonful of the porridge she had for breakfast in her mouth.
“Where are they meeting us again?” Coralie asked Angus, pursing her lips together. He looked up at her and studied the nervous look in her eyes before shuffling through his pockets for the letter, he handed it to Coralie. “Outside the Shrieking Shack, is that really necessary?” Angus chuckled slightly at Coralie’s annoyed expression.
“Jake said something about trying to scare Vi off, apparently she’s being driving him insane at home” This time it was Coralie’s turn to chuckle, she stare out of the window for a minute with a big smile plastered on her face.
“I can see that” she said after a few minutes had passed, Angus nodded in agreement before laughing again.
Soon enough, the carriage pulled to a halt and Angus and Coralie climbed out. Hogsmeade was looking as magical as ever, the trees had completely shred their leaves and despite it only being mid-November it had begun to look Christmas-y already. Though she wanted to be able to stay in that exact spot and just appreciate how beautiful the little village looked, Coralie followed after Angus as they headed for the Shrieking Shack.
“It’s the most Haunted place in Britain” Coralie could hear Jacob explaining to Violet as she and Angus got closer to them, she should almost hear Violet roll her eyes at this. “I’m serious, villagers here terrible howls and everything coming from in there”
“Why the hell are we waiting here then?” Violet half-yelled and with a huff, she turned her back to the shack- finally noticing Coralie and Angus. “About bloody time” she said, walking towards them before throwing her arms around both of them at the same time.
“Whoa, let ‘em breathe Vi” Jacob exclaimed after a few moments, after Violet finally let go Jacob took his turn of hugging Coralie tightly and clasped hands with Angus.
“Can we please leave this stupid place now?” Violet asked, her eyes darting back and forth from the Shrieking Shack.
“Oh, didn’t Jacob tell you? We’re having the whole meeting here” Angus joked, when a look of pure horror crossed Violet’s face he laughed loudly.
“Ha ha, very funny” Violet replied, throwing her arms around Coralie’s shoulder as the two of them made their way back to the main street of Hogsmeade- the two boys following closely behind. “Where are we really going?” she asked after a few minutes, Coralie turned to face Angus who shrugged his shoulders.
“The Three Broomsticks first, perhaps?” she replied and was met with a nod from Violet, the four of them then made their way into the pub that was already overflowing with students though they eventually were able to find a table in the far left corner where they could see everyone but were slightly hidden from view themselves.
“Now speak” Jacob commanded, sending Coralie and Angus stern looks the moment their butterbeers arrived, the two younger Bennett’s sent one another a look before Coralie spoke up.
“Shelena and Sirius- my ex, they have a history” she started, watching Violet’s eyes widen in surprise.
“What kind of history?” Jacob asked calmly, though his eyes told a different story completely.
“A long one- they were together for a bit but things got messy” Coralie bit down on her bottom lip at this, she watched Jacob and Violet share a worried look before she continued, “Shelena wants Sirius back but Sirius doesn’t want her”
“He still wants you” Violet commented weakly, Coralie raised her eyebrows slightly as this and let out a little sigh.
“How do you know that?” she asked, diverting her eyes to her hands which lay on the table. All of this was just bringing back what she had blurted out to Shelena, how could she tell her to say something like that to Sirius? It was true, she and Nathaniel were getting closer every single day but for some reason it still bothered her that Sirius might choose Shelena.
“He keeps looking over at you” Violet answered, at this all of them looked over at Sirius who was indeed watching them- though he quickly diverted his eyes back to James. “That one does too” she added, pointing to the opposite corner where Nathaniel was sitting by himself. When he noticed they were watching him he sent a smile and wave back at her.
“That’s Nathaniel” Coralie replied without even bothering to keep the smile off her face. Her two older siblings noticed this and while Jacob rubbed his forehead, Violet smiled slyly at Coralie and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
“How long have you been with him then?” she asked with a chuckle, sending a wave back to Nathaniel as well as a wink.
“We aren’t together” Coralie replied, hiding her blush behind her hair- luckily for her Violet was too distracted to notice and tease her any further.
“You’re kidding, right?” Violet stated, her focus flicking back to Coralie before it went back to Nathaniel. “He’s staring at you far too much for that to be true”
“We’re just friends” Coralie responded sternly, silently praying that her older sister wasn’t about to start playing matchmaker- she couldn’t think of a more embarrassing situation at that exact moment.
“Well, he’s cute. So make your move before he loses interest” At this, Violet snapped her head back around and took a sip of her butterbeer- the previous conversation was promptly forgotten, fortunately for Coralie.
Dearest Coralie,
I have spent the past week researching the curse for you and I have made significant progress- I believe I have found the second family and they reside here in England! I am to travel to their house next week and then hopefully I shall be able to discuss the effects of the curse with them, then I’ll be able to inform you. Please remember to keep this a secret from your siblings, it is not safe for them to know quite yet.
Thank you,
Mum
Coralie let out a small sigh of relief and tucked the letter into the back of her Charms book which she then slid back into her book bag, the letter was one of the best she’d received in months and for once she felt like some weight had been taken off her shoulders even if it was only for a moment.
“Love letter from Peakes?” Kiki’s voice interrupted and Coralie looked up from her breakfast to see her group of friends watching her expectantly.
“Uh, no. Letter from my mother” she replied, taking a sip of pumpkin juice from the goblet in front of her. Her friends shared a look before they went back to their own breakfast, Coralie placed her goblet down and turned slightly so that she could see the Ravenclaw table- her eyes meeting Nathaniel’s straight away. He smiled at her, that crooked smile of his before nodding towards the entrance hall- Coralie smiled in response and turned back to her friends who had been watching the entire exchange.
“What are you waiting for? Go!” Alice urged her, practically pushing Coralie out of her seat. She smiled widely at them all before grabbing a piece of butter toast from Lily’s plate and disappearing after Nathaniel.
“Hey” Nathaniel grinned as Coralie appeared, she couldn’t help but grin back at him as he wrapped his arms around her. “I was thinking, you don’t know how to fly do you?” Coralie froze for a second before biting down on her bottom lip.
“No, not technically” she answered worriedly- she’d never learnt to fly not because she was afraid of heights or anything, in fact she loved being close to the clouds, it was more the fact she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on.
“I’m going to change that today” Coralie could only cringe in response to Nathaniel’s enthusiasm.
“I’m not sure that’s a great idea Nate” she started, he stared at her in disbelief- his eyebrows furrowing slightly.
“How is this not a good idea?” he asked, dropping his hand to her wrist before continuing on. “You’re not afraid of heights are you?” he teased, the ends of his mouth twisting upwards into a cheeky smile.
“No!” Coralie screamed back in outrage, she didn’t realise just how loud she had been until one of the portraits told her to be quiet. “Sorry” she blushed, turning back to Nathaniel with a desperate look in her eyes.
“You so are” he chuckled and Coralie glared at him before shaking her head.
“I’m not, honestly. I just don’t want to fall " she answered truthfully, biting down on her bottom lip slightly as Nathaniel continued to stare at her. It was silent for a moment before Nathaniel broke the silenece with a chuckle.
"I'm not going to let you fall" Coralie grinned at this and took Nathaniel's arm when he offered it to her. The two of them made their way down to the Quidditch pitch, Coralie took a seat on the edge of the pitch as Nathaniel disappeared into the supply closet where he kept his broom. "You ready?" he yelled from inside and Coralie nodded in response, rolling her eyes when she realised that he was unable to see her.
"Yes" she manged to spit out, turning her attention back to the pitch in front of her. She never realised how big it was, it always seemed so much smaller when she was sitting in the stands with the girls but now that she was seating on the actual pitch she could see. The goals were higher than she had thought and therefore she understood how much it would hurt to fall- she cursed herself at this thought, she needed to keep thinking postively.
"You can use my broom, I'll use one of the school ones. Mine has better grip" Coralie nodded, drawing her attention away from the pitch and back to Nathaniel who threw her a broom. She turned it over in her hands, inspecting every single detail of it- she wanted to know what she was dealing with.
"Thank you" she replied after a minute, squeezing the handle of the broom quite tightly. Her worries were slowly starting to creep into the front of her mind and she couldn't help but voice them. "Exactly how good is this grip?" Nathaniel chuckled at this before passing her a pair of Quidditch gloves, they were oldish and slightly tatted which made Coralie wondered whether they had much grip left in them.
"They're mine too" Nathaniel explained, pulling on a much rattier pair of gloves that most likely belonged to the school. "They look a bit old but I promise they're the best" Coralie nodded at this and pulled them on nervously, they were much too big for her tiny hands but she thanked Nathaniel anyway.
"Come on then, before I chicken out" she muttered, following Nathaniel into the middle of the pitch. He turned to look at her, without a word, before shaking his head and swinging his leg over his broom- he motioned for her to do the same.
"Now, hold out tight and when I count to three push off with the back of heels" Coralie nodded, staring down at the broom in front of her before looking forward and out onto the pitch. Her trail of thought was broken when Nathaniel put a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly. "Ready?" she nodded. "One" She slammed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Two"
"Is it too late to back out?" she whispered but no reply came from Nathaniel.
"Three" She opened her eyes and pushed off the ground like he had instructed her too, she found herself hovering slightly off the ground. She let out a small squeal and grinned down at him. "Lean forward now and hold on!" She did as she was told.
"This is amazing" she called back down, flying past Nathaniel who had joined her in the air.
"Not scared anymore then?" Nathaniel called back with a teasing tone to his voice, she sent him a look before continuing to fly back him- backwards and forwards for what seemed like hours. At some point Nathaniel had joined her, the two of them begun to race from one end of the pitch to the other. "Okay, okay- you win!" he declared, as they reached the goal posts on the far end of the pitch for the fifth time.
"We should head back" Coralie yelled, a gust of wind blowing past her. She started to fly downwards and in moments had touched down, Nathaniel joining her only a few seconds later. "Thank you for teaching me to fly" she said with a grin, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.
"No problem" he grinned back, lifting her slightly off the ground.
With a wide grin, Kiki turned on her heel and headed back inside. She hadn't orginally planned on watching Coralie and Peakes, honestly she hadn't. She was planning on jogging around the Quidditch pitch a couple of times- one of her favourite things to do when she was feeling a little stressed but the two of them had been there and Kiki had found it impossible to turn away- they were just too cute.
They had finished their little flying lesson now and so Kiki had decided they deserved their own little one on one time, even if they were oblivious to her presence beforehand. And so Kiki made her way through the corridors that would lead her back to the Gryffindor Common Room, it had been remarkably quieter since Halloween- at least where Shelena was involved which made Kiki wonder if Coralie's sickness was a prank gone too far.
She wouldn't put it past Shelena to do something like that though she wasn't sure the latter would have much of a conscience to care about the outcome- that was just the kind of girl that she was. It was the kind of girl Kiki was too, essentially, though Kiki thought of herself a slightly more tame. She cared about other people, granted not all of the time but still, some of the time had to count for something.
Kiki couldn't help but to compare the two of them to magnets, while opposites attract, the same repel and that was the exact workings between the two of them. They both hated each other because they were almost the exact same people. They were both beautiful- and they knew it, they always got their way and they both had shitty family lives. It was true in their younger years that the two of them had gotten along- they had almost been as close as Lily and Shelena but neither of them liked to lose and so they both lost each other.
That was another thing the two of them were good at- loosing things and wrecking everything. There were far too many situations to even mention when the they had messed things up for themselves, each other and everyone else.
"You look like you're pretty deep in thought there" A voice interuppted, causing Kiki to spin on her heel with a murderous glare in her eyes. She did not like to be distracted or surprised by people either because she liked to always know everything about everyone- it was the way she'd been bought up. "Hello Kiki"
"Alex" Her voice was stern and she made sure her face showed no emotions whatsoever. She had tried so desperately to cut Alex from her life, he hadn't even been a quick snog or anything therefore he was worth no memories.
"It's good to see you again" Kiki rolled her eyes at this and he chuckled. "Good to see you haven't changed"
"Sadly you still seem to be the same" she replied dryly, pursing her lips together tightly. "What do you want?"
"I just want to talk to you" he responded with a whisper and she bit down on her bottom lip, this couldn't be good.
Authors Note: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter and I shall see you on Friday with Chapter Forty Four!
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of this plot belong to me. The story title is owned by Taylor Swift and everything else by J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading!
Chapter Image courtesy of my friend Keziah.
Angus twisted the side of his lips into a half smile, half frown sort of thing- honestly, he had no idea how he could possibly described it. With a sigh, he placed the book in front of him back on the library table and ran his fingers through his hair. His O.W.L's were coming up this year, and despite it only being November- he was worried. Coralie had never received her O.W.L's technically, as in France they would sit their exams in sixth year which she had missed out on when they moved to England and so Angus didn't have much pressure there but he knew Coralie would pass her N.E.W.T's and they were far more important.
All his older siblings had passed their exams with flying colours, Allisyn had received the top marks in the school (though it was a small school and not hard to do, it was still seen an achievement), Jacob had been in the top fifty marks (despite never once touching his study notes) and even Violet had made the top ten. It was a lot of pressure put onto his fifteen year old shoulders.
His friends weren't so bothered; most of them were the older siblings (or sometimes even the only ones) and therefore didn't have the same pressure. They had laughed at him when he had taken notes in the very first class they had, commenting that the topic was most definitely going to be on the O.W.L's, they replied by reminding him of 'revision'.
Revision, Angus saw it as an excuse people used when they didn't want to pay attention in classes. Revision was to, revise things but learning was all about the understanding- it wasn't the same at all. Maybe it made him slightly obsessive, but his grades mattered to him as they mattered to the rest of his family. His mother wouldn't be disappointed, his father couldn't have cared less and his siblings wouldn't have loved him any less but he would be disappointed, he could care and he would love himself less.
"Could I sit here?" A meek voice asked, breaking Angus from the inner rant his mind was about to journeying into. He nodded, still too caught up in his thoughts to even notice who was sitting down- until she practically face planted into the table.
"Are you alright?" His head snapped to her, catching her arm and searching her face to make sure she wasn't bleeding or something- that had been one fall.
"Yeah" she whispered, determined to hide herself behind the mess of dark brown hair she had. She took her seat and pulled out at least ten books from her bag while Angus watched in disbelief- and he thought he was being obsessive with studying.
"I'm sorry, uh. We've never met before" Angus stated, biting down on his bottom lip and he tried to catch a glimpse of her face but he was unsuccessful- this girl clearly knew how to hide herself away. She kind of reminded him of Coralie when she was younger and much shyer than she was these days.
"We have actually" The girl replied with a fierce tone to her voice, catching Angus of guard- he blinked a few times, hearing the girl gasp. "I'm so sorry, that was rude" She tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled weakly at Angus. "I'm Anastasia or Ana"
"Angus" he replied shell-shocked. The girl was pretty; he would have had to be blind to say otherwise. She wasn't beautiful in the same way as Coralie- no blonde hair, no blue eyes and no pale skin. Instead she was rather plain but still had something about her. Brown hair, brown eyes and lightly tanned skin. Her hair glistened in the sunlight though, her brown eyes twinkled with something Angus hadn't seen before and her skin looked healthily.
"It's nice to meet you, again" she said happily, an infectious grin crossed her face and Angus didn't even dare to cry and keep a matching one of his face.
"I'm sorry that I don't remember you" Angus added with a frown, he tousled a bit of his hair slightly before biting down on his bottom lip. Usually he was pretty good with faces and names, better than most of his family but he could not place this girl- Anastasia, Ana. Where was she from? And how did she know him?
Coralie pushed the door to the Three Broomsticks open with her side, still focused on what Sarah was saying but grateful to be inside and out of the cold. She turned her attention to the counter which Sarah was oddly eyeing off; it only took Coralie a few seconds to notice a thin looking guy standing behind the counter. His light brown hair was slightly too long and had the brightest blue eyes either girl had ever seen.
He sent the two of the wink, causing them to erupt into fits of giggles and they made their way to an empty table towards the front of the restaurant- in perfect view of the waiter. Soon enough, he made his way over to them and pulled out his little notebook to take their order. “What can I get you to lovely ladies?” He said with a thick Scottish accent, Coralie and Sarah shared at look at this moment.
“Two butterbeers please” Sarah responded confidently, though she looked like she might almost stop breathing if the waiter stayed round for much longer.
“Won’t be too long ladies” He grinned and sent them a wink before disappearing back behind the bar again. The moment he was out of sight the two girls turned to each other and burst into fits of giggles.
"He's cute" Coralie commented and Sarah nodded in agreement, the two of them fell back into a silence while they both watched the man to pop back from the bar.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked and Coralie sent her a sarcastic look and a smirk, turning her attention back to the bar. "Hey, you've got Nathaniel you don't need to look" Coralie chuckled at this and turned back to face her friend.
"And you've got Tyler, your point being?" Sarah's eyes widen at this and she began to choke on something though she had nothing in her throat. Coralie watched her with confused eyes before Sarah finally managed to stop herself.
"Why would I have Tyler?" she half yelled, her eyes blinking madly.
"The two of you" Coralie started and when Sarah continued to send her a blank look she continued on. "Come on, I'm not stupid there is clearly something there"
"What?" Sarah squeaked, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Ew. No. Never" she spitted out quickly, the words seemed to mix together somewhat and therefore didn't make much sense really. "Why would you even think that?"
"I just..." Coralie paused and bit down on her lip. "It seems possible you know?" Sarah made a disgusted face at this and shook her head.
"No I don't know that it's possible nor do I ever want to!" Coralie chuckled at Sarah's tone, though truthfully she felt a little silly for just assuming that Sarah and Tyler were a thing. If she really thought about it then she couldn't ever imagine the two of them walking around Hogwarts laughing and holding hands as a couple- they were too good of friends for that.
"I'm sorry" Coralie said weakly, diverting her eyes to the side of the Three Broomsticks where a bunch of Slytherins sat hauntingly, that typical 'I'm better than you' look that was reserved for the house. She noticed that some of them definitely were not Hogwarts age while others clearly were, she recognized Snape who seemed to be in a different place than the rest of the group and a boy that looked remarkably like Sirius- it must have been Regulus, the younger Black that she'd been told about.
"Its okay" Sarah replied with a frown before closing her eyes tightly. "Just don't ever bring that up again" Coralie nodded in agreement, she never planned on remembering that moment for as long as she possibly lived and she knew Sarah felt the exact same way.
"In that case, the barman is pretty cute"
"How was the rest of your sixth year then?" Kiki took a deep breath and sent a dry look over at Alex. Since they had talked a few days ago he had been everywhere, she turned around in the hallway and he'd be chasing after her, she would escape outside and he'd already be outside running, she even tried the library despite her hatred of books but alas, he'd been there.
"Fine" she replied, pursing her lips tightly. She had grabbed a book, an old, boring looking one the moment she'd walked in hoping that if she pretended to read then he would leave her alone but she had no such luck.
"Yeah, mine was good too" he responded when she didn't push him for an answer, he opened a book that had been discarded on the bookshelf nearby and opened it up. This gave Kiki hope that this would be the end of their conversation but once again, Alex had other plans. "So..." he added, closing the book after flipping through a few pages.
"What do you want Alex?" Kiki snapped, slamming the book in front of her closed which caused her to get sent dirty looks by some Ravenclaws who had been studying nearby.
"I just want to say sorry" he replied with a frown, biting down on his bottom lip nervously. Kiki wanted to roll her eyes and stand up, turn on her heel and leave the library and never see Alex again but something kept her glued to her seat.
"Sorry for what?" Alex rolled his eyes at this.
"For springing the whole 'I like you thing' on you so quickly" Kiki took a deep breath at this and closed her eyes for a moment before re-opening them and nodded stiffly. This definitely wasn't something that Kiki wanted bought up right now, she wanted nothing more than to forget that memory forever but somehow she knew that was never going to happen. "I was hoping we could become friends this time"
"Alex" Kiki whispered, before she shut her mouth and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm not sure that's a good idea"
"You don't like me" Kiki made to protest but Alex shook her off. "That's fine, so why can't we be friends?" She was lost for words at this.
"I don't know" she responded truthfully, biting down on her lip again- it seemed to become a habit of hers whenever Alex was around lately. "This isn't a great time"
"I know the whole Shelena thing-" Kiki tensed at this and sighed heavily.
"Do not bring her up" she said sternly, Alex flinched slightly at this but did not push her any further. "Give me time. I'll let you know later"
"Kiki" Alex started but she had already stood up and left the library.
Eyes shut, body still, silence echoing through her ears. This was never an occurrence for Shelena, she likes to move, to see everything and to be heard but recently something had changed that. She felt ill, all of the time and she didn't know how to stop it. She knew what it was, the same thing that had made her faint before Halloween but she had no clue whatsoever on how to fix her little problem. Scratch that, it was big problem, absolutely huge.
With a sigh she swung her legs off the side of her bed and walked over to the window, the view was alright. It wasn't the same as the one she had lost to Bennett. It sounded childish but that bed had been hers before that little minx had gotten her hands on it, just like everything else. She would get Bennett back for everything she took away; soon Shelena would have Sirius, Nathaniel, Lily and the rest of Hogwarts back under her control. The little goody two shoes would have no idea what happened.
With a smirk, she turned away from the window and strutted down the stairs like she owned the place because simply, she always had. Even when she had left for the year she knew her name still gained respect and hatred- she was the Queen Bee.
"Whatever you're planning, it won't work" Shelena's lips twisted even more as she rolled her eyes at Sirius' voice.
"It's sweet how clueless you are, love" Sirius pursed his lips together and inside Shelena was doing a little happy dance; she loved it when she had this control over Sirius- he was just so fun to play with.
"I know what you did to Coralie" Shelena rolled her eyes at this though the happy dance in her mind had now stopped. It wasn't nearly as fun when people knew her secrets, had that little minx actually told everyone? Oh, there was no way out now.
"Maybe Bennett's finally lost her mind" she replied, trying to keep her cool though she could feel her cold exterior disappearing. It was just an act; it had always been just an act. She wasn't smooth or cold or manipulative, it was Hogwarts that bought it out in her. She was Queen; she needed to act like one.
"I didn't need Coralie to tell me to figure it out" Sirius responded sternly, he paused for a moment before he continued to talk- dropping his voice to a whisper. "You touched her drink" Shelena roared with laughter at this.
"Maybe I did" she replied, the teasing tone in her voice ever present. So, she was safe. Everyone still believed in her little game and Bennett still didn’t have the guts to tell her friends.
“Stay away from her” Sirius sneered, his eyes widening with anger that only made Shelena laugh again. It was funny how Sirius continued to protect Bennett despite the fact that it was obvious she didn’t want him anymore.
“No, I don’t think I will” Shelena responded, her lips twisting into a smirk again. “Besides Sirius, she doesn’t want you anymore- Can’t you see that?” He didn’t respond, only continued to stare her straight in the eye. “She wants Peakes now, doesn’t that you remind you of someone else?” At this, he stared down at his shoes for a minute and Shelena noticed that his knuckles had turned white.
“She’s more than you’ll ever be Shel” And with that, he stormed out of the Common Room leaving Shelena to stare angrily after him.
“I hate her!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, furiously making her way back up the dormitory where she planned to sit their fuming for as long as she possibly could.
Marcelle leaned over slightly and placed her hand on the brick wall of the tiny alleyway she had apparated into, since having Angus fifteen years ago she had hardly apparated anywhere and so she found herself without much balance. It took her a few more minutes before she was able to stand properly on her own and was able to head down the street she had been looking for.
Behind the door of Number 7, Lake Road (which was in fact nowhere near a lake whatsoever) would be the family that the Bennett’s had been entwined with for two hundred years. Behind that door would be the end of Coralie’s suffering, an end before it really began.
Soon enough Marcelle was standing in front of Number 7. Her heart was beating so loud that she was half surprised that the occupants of the house hadn’t come out to see what the sound was. If she was being honest with herself then the house looked terrible, the entire neighbourhood was quite dull- the houses all looked the same and even though it was a sunny day, it seemed to have a gloomy feel about it.
She shook these thoughts from her mind; she couldn’t judge people on what neighbourhood they lived in before she actually met them. They could be perfectly lovely people who just couldn’t afford anywhere else. She took a deep breath and plastered a smile over her face.
She reached her hand out and knocked on the door steadily, taking a small step backwards. She could hear footsteps come towards the door, they sounded angry, agitated. She wondered if this was a bad time, maybe it wasn’t too late to turn around and pretend like she had never been at the door- she could come back another day, she would come back another day for Coralie.
It was too late though, before she even had a chance to turn around the door swung open and a young man about Jacob’s age stood in front of her. He had mousy brown hair that looked quite thin and wore an angry expression on his face. He didn’t speak but Marcelle could tell that he was telling her to talk with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“I’m Marcelle Bennett” She explained, the young man’s face softened almost immediately and he pulled the door open a little more- stepping out so that she could see him clearly. He was neatly dressed, black pants and a woollen sweater in a deep blue- something Marcelle would love Jacob to wear but knew he never would.
“Leo Millen” He replied, a grin appearing on his face and he stuck out his hand to her which she took, he placed a soft kiss on her hand before smiling up at her again. “What can I help you with?”
Authors Note: Could you tell from that first paragraph that I was stressing about exams when I wrote it? Otherwise, I shall leave you all to think about that ending. Also, Thank you to Keziah for the amazing Chapter Image and support! See you Monday guys!
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot belong to me. However, the story title belongs to Taylor Swift and everything else is J.K Rowling's. Thank you for reading
The inside of the Millen’s house wasn’t much grander than the outside, the furniture looked nice but the walls were tattered and the floors were filthy- covered in dust, dirt and empty bottles of what Marcelle could only imagine did not previously contain butterbeer.
She’d been seated down on what would have an elegant couch back in the day; it was pinkish-gray in colour but had black marks on it in some places which looked like the result of fire. Leo, who seemed perfectly nice, had explained that his mother was out but he was still willing to talk to her- he’d gone to make her some tea.
“Here you go” He placed a teacup in front of her. It looked like it belonged in Marcelle’s grandmother’s house- it was pale yellow with tiny bright pink flowers on it and dark green leaves. It was far too old looking for her taste but she did not show any emotions that would say so.
"Thank you" she replied politely, taking a small sip of the tea which she noticed was Earl Grey- her absolute favourite kind. Leo took a seat in the armchair across from where Marcelle was sitting and took a sip of his own tea. "I think you know who I am" Marcelle said, staring solemnly down at her tea before glancing up at Leo in time to see him nod sternly.
"The story has been passed through my family for generations" he added, biting down on his bottom lip.
"Your sister then, is she well?" Marcelle asked, she was almost dreading the answer but Leo was quite confident in his speech.
"She's perfectly fine, no signs whatsoever" Marcelle sighed with relief and Leo sent her a friendly smile at this. "And your, daughter?"
"Nothing" she whispered, her voice was so quite that she could hardly believe that Leo heard it without having to strain his neck.
"We weren't sure whether it had skipped over Shelena and -" Leo paused at this and Marcelle threw in Coralie's name at which a smile smirk appeared on his face though he covered it quickly. "We don't really know the full details of the curse"
"It won't have skipped them, it has never skipped a generation before so why would they be any different?" Marcelle replied sternly, her eyes widening slightly with her anger. "They can never escape it"
"You see Mrs Bennett, my little sister is much more special than your daughter and therefore we'll know she'll be the one to survive" he replied hastily, his voice raising slightly at her name. At this, she slammed the teacup onto the glass table causing some of the contents to spill- not that it made the room look any dirtier.
"I'm sorry Mr Millen but that is where you are wrong" She stood up and glared down at the man in front of her- how dare he assume that Coralie would not survive? "My Coralie will be the stronger one"
"If she lasts the year at Hogwarts with my sister" Leo sneered at this and Marcelle gritted her teeth, being careful not to show any emotions. "I heard the poison my sister used almost got her on Halloween"
"Stay away from her" Marcelle said calmly, her voice not raising any higher than usual as she turned on her heel and stormed out of the filthy mess they called a house.
Dear Coralie,
Do you remember when you were younger and you used to love me reading you all those fairytales? The ones with the beautiful heroines, the princes and the very evil characters? Remember how I used to warn you that they were people out there like them? I wasn't lying sweetheart. Leo Millen, I know you know who he is, I met him today- his sister Shelena is the girl you share the curse with. You need to be careful, don't let them get near you because they want you out of the picture forever. Protect yourself and protect Angus, I know you will probably ignore this because of who you are but protect yourself before anyone else. Promise me.
I love you sweetheart,
Mum xx
Dear Shelena,
It has begun. Marcelle Bennett visited me this morning and she knows about the curse, it is obvious that Coralie knows as well so step up the plans quickly. I have no doubt that the mother will be in contact. I know you have been disobeying me recently and I hope you realise that know is not the time for your petty games, you can go beg for attention later. Remember, your life is on the line here- not mine.
Coralie snapped her head up to see Nathaniel staring at her with a smile on his face, the smile soon grew infectious and Coralie wore a matching one.
"What are you staring at?" Coralie asked teasingly, biting down on her bottom lip and closing the book she had been reading just for fun. Nathaniel chuckled in response and closed his own book- one on Quidditch, of course.
"You" he replied with a grin, leaning back against the beech tree that they were spending their afternoon under. It was a rather nice outside despite the buckets of rain that had poured down only that morning.
"Why?" Nathaniel didn't grant her question with an answer; instead he threw a few leaves that had fallen off the tree at her. She laughed, shaking her hair violently to try and get rid of them though she was mainly unsuccessful.
"Do I need a reason?" He eventually replied, protecting his face with his hands as Coralie attacked him with the same leaves. Once he’d run out of 'ammo' he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down so she landed on him.
"Of course you do" she chuckled, tilting her head backwards so she could see Nathaniel's reaction- he laughed with her and tighten his grip around her.
"You must have realised by now" he added after a few minutes silence, she stared up at him and bit down on her bottom lip nervously. "So?"
"So?" Coralie repeated, rolling her eyes at him in a teasing fashion.
"What's your answer?"
"You'll have to do better than that" she joked, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Well then, Miss Coralie Tilde-" Coralie frowned at this; she wasn't a big fan of her middle name really. "Bennett, will you go out with me?" Coralie bit down on her lip again and thought about it for a moment before chuckling.
"Of course" she replied with a grin, throwing another pile of leaves at Nathaniel's head. He loosened his grasp on her as the two of them chased each other around the grounds, laughing loud enough that they were sent dirty looks by other students around.
Coralie woke up the next morning with the biggest grin on her face ever, the rest of her day had been perfect- she'd spent it laughing and joking with Nathaniel and had then spent the night with Alice, Miranda and Mary- they'd accepted her into the 'Taken Gryffindor Seventh Year Girl' group they had unofficially going on.
"Dream nice dreams of Peakes last night?" Alice teased when she made her way into the bathroom where Coralie was putting the finishing touches on her hair. Coralie nudged her friend's shoulder softly in reply and stuck her tongue out.
"Dream nice dreams of Frank?" she replied in the same manor, Alice laughed at this and picked up her own hairbrush.
"Touché" Coralie chuckled again and side hugged her friend before making her way back into the dormitory.
"I heard Peakes being mentioned in there" Kiki waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Coralie as she made her way back to her bed to grab her bag. Coralie chuckled at her friend and joined her on her bed.
"I now have a boyfriend" At this Marlene squealed, causing Alice to run out of the bathroom- her hair half brushed on one side and not on the other.
"Just wake up the whole castle Marls" Lily commented dryly though she wore a big smile on her face. Coralie knew that Lily was having a bit of trouble at home- her father was sick and she had always had problems with her older sister, this only made Coralie more grateful that she and Violet had figured everything out. "But still, congratulations Cors"
"Get in there" Kiki teased, nudging Coralie playfully- the whole dormitory was soon in laughter. It was a nice change compared to the tension that could be cut with a butter knife when Shelena was in there- she had disappeared sometime that morning before everyone else had woken up.
"We are all growing up" Miranda said solemnly, slipping on her school shoes before looking at everyone in the room. "Coralie has Peakes, I have Remus, Alice has Frank, and Mary has Cory. Just Kiki and Marlene left and let's are honest; you two will get swept off your feet soon"
"Hey, what about Lils?" Mary replied, flopping down onto her bed and looking over at the picture on her bedside table of her and Cory.
"Let's be honest girls" Coralie answered with a smile, "Lily has James" At this Lily broke into fits of laughter once more, closely followed behind by the rest of the girls.
"You know" Lily started with a half smile, "I think he actually has me now"
"No way" Kiki replied and the rest of the girls all let out happy squeals followed by a massive group hug which found Lily being squished against her bed.
"I love you girls" Lily managed to get out and the girls all replied just as happily,
"We love you too Lily"
That very afternoon Coralie made her way up to the Owlery after leaving Nathaniel to run off to Quidditch practice, that day had been wonderful as well- in fact, her entire life right now seemed so perfect. Shelena even seemed to be MIA and the girls couldn't have been happier with this.
She almost felt bad though, like she was stealing Shelena's friends but she had to remind herself that Shelena wasn't a perfectly innocent angel, in fact she was far from it. She sighed, brushing this thought to the back of her mind as she climbed the last few steps of the Owlery.
She searched through the cages for Chouette and smiled when she noticed that her owl was carrying a letter for her, she took the letter and handed over some owl treats which Chouette took lovingly. Coralie carefully opened the letter and read through the contents quickly, her hand shaking slightly as she read the words- 'Shelena is the girl you share the curse with'.
How could this be possible? No, it couldn't be. Her breath caught in her throat and she had to lean against the Owlery wall to stop herself from fainting. No, no, no. She repeated over and over again in her mind. This couldn't be true, it just couldn't. The letter had to be a fake but when Coralie read over it again she noticed that it was most definitely Marcelle's writing.
Within seconds she had stormed out of the Owlery and was power walking towards the Gryffindor Common Room- she had to find Angus, that was the only thing that mattered right now. She could get Angus and go to Dumbledore, request that he protect them- he knew he could if he possibly could, that was the kind of man that Dumbledore was.
Something stopped her on her way there though, a flash of blonde hair in the corner of Coralie's eyes- definitely, without a doubt- Shelena. Before she even knew what she was doing she'd turned on her heel and ran towards Shelena.
"You little bitch" she screamed, the words forming and flying out of her mouth before she even had the chance to think them over. Shelena turned on her heel, noticed that it was Coralie and chuckled softly.
"And so you received the letter" she said calmly, her blue eyes twinkling with delight. "What are you going to do about it Bennett?" Shelena teased when Coralie didn't reply she laughed and turned on her heel, "Coward" she whispered, loud enough for Coralie to hear.
"I know exactly what I'm going to do" Coralie replied, her own blue eyes filled with some much anger that she could barely see. She flung herself at Shelena, grabbing onto her hair and pulling whatever she could- Shelena was shocked for a few minutes but replied just as roughly.
Screams, rips, nails clawing, hair pulling- it was all a blur for Coralie, all that was clear to her was Shelena's face- just as determined as she imagined hers was. It was unclear how much time passed by the two of them, how many people had started to gather around them and how many bets were being called or how many people were screaming their names.
"ENOUGH!" Was the only word that snapped them back into focus, and there was McGonagall standing with her ever-stern face and glaring eyes- straight at the two of them. Coralie staggered backwards and was pulled over to a seat by Miranda who was quickly joined by the rest of her friends- Kiki threw her arms around Coralie's shoulder and James rubbed her back on the other side. It was only when Sirius moved slightly to the side that she noticed straight in front of her.
Shelena was alone.
Authors Note: Can you believe there’s only ten chapters left of this story now? Yep, that’s right. Ten more chapters and just six weeks until this story is finished off. With that being said, thank you for all your support guys and I’ll see you Friday.
Disclaimer:The OC's and parts of this plot belong to me. The story title belongs to Taylor Swift and the rest of it is J.K Rowling's, I do not claim ownership. Thank you for reading.
A crackling red light soared towards Coralie, she managed to duck just in time so that it hit the lamp behind her instead. With a echoing crack, it smashed into tiny piece- little shards of glass flying across the floor.
“Jacob!” Marcelle yelled, glaring daggers at the boy in question who only twisted his face slightly in response. With a flick of her own wand, she cleaned up the mess on the floor and repaired the lamp.
“You need to stop ducking Coralie, start throwing spells back at me” Jacob said sternly, running his fingers through his hair before sighing and pointing his wand directly at Coralie again.
“I’m sorry, reflexes!” she squeaked, holding her own wand straight in front of her.
“On three” Coralie nodded at this, squeezing her wand tighter. “One, Two” Jacob paused, closed his eyes for a brief moment before he continued. “Three”
“Expelliarmus” Jacob’s wand flew out of his hands and towards Coralie who caught it only to have it slip from her hands.
“Better, now again” Coralie groaned at this and threw her brother his wand. Ever since the ‘cat-fight’ between Shelena and herself, just two weeks before, she had returned home for Christmas break and Jacob had become obsessive about teaching her how to duel properly. Though he said it was in case she ever needed to protect herself against Shelena, Coralie knew that Jacob was far more interested in being able to duel full stop.
“Don’t you think it’s time you gave it a rest?” Marcelle interrupted before Jacob could break her favourite lamp, yet again.
“Mother, she won’t be able to protect herself if we stop” he replied, he was moaning so much that he actually sounded like a little boy under the age of ten who had just been told to quit at something, rather than a twenty-one year old man who had been asked to stop duelling his younger sister.
“You both need a break. Come sit down and get some lunch” Jacob made to interrupt at this but Marcelle quickly cut him off. “I promise Cora won’t forget everything if she goes the rest of the day without a duel”
“I suppose we can continue this tomorrow” Jacob solemnly agreed, dropping his wand back into his pocket and rubbing the sweat off his hands on his pants.
“You will do no such thing” Marcelle replied with outrage before turning on her heel and disappearing into the kitchen. If her mother hadn’t have mentioned it, Coralie probably wouldn’t have remembered- Tomorrow was Christmas Day, it didn’t feel like it at all. Sure, they had put up decorations and things but Coralie had been spending all of her time practicing spells that she had barely had time to breathe.
“Mother, that is hardly fair” Jacob called after her but quickly dropped the subject when she screamed back a response at him, he sighed and headed up to his room- most likely to look up more spells for Coralie. Honestly, she was happy that she would get a chance to have a break tomorrow- her arms were so sore from constantly throwing spells around and the days were starting to mash into one.
“Coralie, sweetheart” Her mother’s voice bought her back into reality and she grabbed her jacket from the back of the couch before heading towards the kitchen. She sat down next to Angus who sent her a bright smile and took a bit of the ham and cheese croissant her mother had made.
“Have you found anything yet?” Coralie asked him. Every member of the Bennett family had been given a job, Jacob was to teach Coralie how to duel, Marcelle and Allisyn were researching the curse and trying to work out how to stop it or even what it did, Violet and Angus had been placed on ‘Millen research’- basically they were to find out as much as humanly possible about the Millen family.
“We’re still trying to find the smallest Millen, there’s absolutely nothing on them whatsoever” Coralie frowned at this, she knew Angus was trying his hardest and she always knew that the fact that he couldn’t find anything really bothered him.
“You’ll find it eventually” Coralie responded and Angus sighed in response, taking a sip of his orange juice.
“What if I don’t find it quick enough though?” It was the question that could have been left unsaid, it was on everyone’s mind but no one had voiced it until now. It was the most difficult question to answer and really the one Coralie didn’t ever want to think about or answer instead, she wrapped her arms around Angus’ side and placed a kiss on his forehead.
“Don’t worry, I trust you” she whispered and Angus sighed again, resting his forehead on Coralie’s shoulder. So much for a Merry Christmas.
Christmas in the Millen household was similar but different in every way. For one, their Christmases were never perfect to begin with- in fact their mother hated Christmas more than any other time of the year, not that she was particularly fond of any other day really.
But just like the Bennett’s were doing a good thirty miles or so away from them, the Millen’s were training. Unlike the other family though, this was not a joint effort in fact- Leo spent all of his time in his room doing what Shelena guessed to be as writing more childish letters to Coralie, her mother was either out or asleep and her little sister was hardly any use.
And so, like always, Shelena was completely alone. With this thought, she let out another strangled scream and threw a pile of her little sister's books against the wall. She hated feeling so pathetic, like she wouldn't be able to with this problem by herself- oh, how she wanted to be able to.
Who would help her though? Honestly, she wouldn't have helped herself if she was in someone else's shoes. It had taken her up until that stupid little fight with Bennett to realise that her old friends didn't want her anymore. She understood why, she had changed.
She wasn't Shelena anymore, not really- she was some faker who was doing a terrible job. Before fifth year, Shelena had been so good. Sure, sometimes she got a little moody but in her heart she always tried to do the right thing. Then things had changed, it wasn't just her- Lily changed, Sirius changed, Nathaniel changed and everyone else.
The only difference was that they had changed for the better and Shelena certainly had not. She wanted to lie to herself, believe that it was everyone else's fault but it wasn't. And now, she was alone.
A sob caught in her throat and before she even realised what was happening, tears were streaming down her face and she collapsed against the wall, letting herself slide down to the floor.
She wished she had stopped herself before this had gotten so bad. The old Shelena, the real Shelena wouldn't have wanted her friends to suffer because of some silly curse that was laced in her blood and that of Coralie's. She didn't want Coralie to die because of it, just like she didn't want to die herself.
They were just teenage girls for Merlin's sake, just normal teenage girls who should have been allowed to be carefree and go shopping and giggle about boys. All of them, not just her and Coralie, had matured too fast.
That didn’t mean Shelena could stop now though, this was a fight for survival now- one that she had bought on herself and though she knew Coralie didn’t deserve to suffer she wasn’t about to take it either.
The familiar surroundings of the Potter Manor materialised around James, he’d walked down this same corridor so many times that he could make his way through it in the dark without even having to think about it. It was dead silent, something that James’ mother would have made a point of- it was hardly ever quiet with both James and Sirius around. And yet, that night was silent.
This scene wasn't much different to the real life occurance that had only happened two nights ago, it had been replaying itself over and over again in James' head. He knew how this dream would end as much as he tried to drag his feet along the corridor and to head back to bed rather than to continue, he couldn't.
He wondered if Sirius was going through the same sort of thing, then again Sirius had still been fast asleep at the time. It wasn't until James woke him up that he even knew they were gone.
His parents that was, their parents, really.
James wanted to believe that they had just gone off on another one of their missions and they'd be back in a few days time. Their mother would go all out with cookies that he and Sirius would eat in an hour or less then she'd laugh about how her sons wouldn't have survived without her- it was true. Their father would then tell them stories of the daring duels and raids they had encountered on their mission, both James and Sirius would listen attentively.
It was from these stories they had decided to become aurors, while James had been listening to them ever since he was little Sirius had picked up on them quickly when he moved in two years ago now. Their parents had laughed and joked about it, expressing their sorrows for Mad-Eye Moody who would most likely train them.
If James or Sirius had been undecided before as to their future career paths then by now, they were certainly set in stone. They were both determined as each other to lock up the Death Eaters who had taken their parents from them for as long as they possibly could.
It wasn't only their parents they wanted to become aurors for, it was all their friends too and even some people they didn't know. They knew their rights and wrongs and they knew what they had to do to make sure they were followed through with.
James refused to let his parents death be in vain.
The news of the Potter’s deaths passed quickly through Wizarding England, every family that was either fighting for their cause or were just simply neutral knew of them. In the same week as their funeral, James had received more sympathy letters than the total amount of letter’s he had ever been sent in his life before. It seemed his parents touched more people’s lives than he had previously thought.
Both he and Sirius were sick of receiving letters from people they had never heard of before telling them how close they were with their parents. James had taken to leaving one of the house elves- Mickey, to open the letters and giving him the ones worth reading. The ones from Remus, Peter and some of the girls mainly.
“Master James, someone is at the door” The Potter’s second house elf- Fane, squeaked. James jumped slightly at the sound, dropping a letter he had been reading onto the desk in front of him and heading towards the front door, Fane following closely behind but hiding himself behind James when he opened in the door in case it was a muggle.
“James” He fought back a groan and the overwhelming want to slam the door in their visitor’s face.
“Shelena, if you are here to see Sirius he doesn’t want to see you” Shelena pursed her lips together and pushed her way into the house anyway, she didn’t care if he didn’t want to see her- she was here to see him.
“Go get Sirius, will you?” She turned to the house elf who looked ready to respond smartly to her before thought better of it and scampered down the hallway.
“You can’t just turn up here anymore” James started, his voice stern as he watched her slip over to the fireplace. Above it hung a picture of James and Sirius, they were both smiling at the camera and laughing about something. He watched as Shelena ran a finger over Sirius’ face, he wanted to step forward and tear her arm away but he stopped himself.
“I’m just here to make sure he’s okay” Shelena respond with a smile, it would have seemed sweet enough if James had known her as well and had he not noticed the familiar glimmer in her eyes.
“He’s fine, now you can leave” she chuckled slightly, plopping herself down on the regal couch. She crossed her legs and waited silently.
“What are you doing here?” Sirius’ voice interrupted the silence, he stood at the bottom of the stairs firmly- not wanting to move any closer to Shelena.
“I came to see you” Shelena smirked, standing up from the couch and making her way over to Sirius who still did not smile or move. Once she got close enough she leaned up slightly and placed a kiss of his cheek which he blankly ignored.
“And now you’ve seen me, so you can go” Sirius replied and she scoffed at this, before her mouth twitched slightly- the ends curling into a sadist smile.
“Tell me Sirius, has Bennett come to visit or is she too busy banging Peakes?” At this, she turned on her heel or strutted from the room. The front door slamming shut before Sirius even blinked, and then within seconds he had yelled out in frustration and stormed back up to his room leaving James alone with his thoughts once more.
Coralie could hardly believe the amount of snow that had fallen in the past week. Most of the town was now covered in a few thick layers of snow that had people slipping and sliding all over the place. Violet now had a purple bruise on the side of her left arm to remind her not to attempt to run up a hill covered in snow next to a fence.
Coralie was heading into town that morning; she had received a letter for Nate only two previously and had agreed to meet with him. As much as she wanted to see him, she always wanted to stay inside wrapped up in a blanket in front of the fireplace with a cup of tea and a book for the reminder of the holidays.
Instead, there she was in the main street of the town dressed a short dress that Violet demanded she wore, a pair of tights and a jacket. She wondered if she would freeze to death before Nathaniel got there or whether her body would hold out until she saw him.
“Hey” Coralie shivered slightly and turned to wrap her arms around Nathaniel who chuckled and hugged her back tightly, placing a small kiss on her forehead. “You a tad cold, eh?” Coralie only glared at him in response, slipping her fingers in his as he led her into a little cafe- she was more grateful for the warmth than anything else.
“How was your Christmas?” she asked, taking a sip of the tea that Nathaniel had order for her.
“Good, good” He grinned, pouring a packet of sugar into his own tea. “And yours?” he added but cut her off before she got the chance to reply, “Cat fight with any of my other ex-girlfriends?” Nathaniel chuckled, leaning back into his chair.
“Of course love, everyone of them” Coralie replied with a wicked smile before she too burst into chuckles.
Author’s Note: SURPRISE! Yep, extra chapter for you guys! I know I said I’d be posting on Monday’s and Friday’s but it’s sort of hitting me that this story is really coming to an end quite quickly and therefore I want to get it all finished. I am going to be writing a sequel which I am going to be giving you hints about in the author’s note of the remaining chapters. So I will see you all on Friday with the next chapter!
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. The story title comes from Taylor Swift and the rest is J.K Rowling's. Thank you for reading.
“Are you guys relatively civil yet?” Nathaniel asked, nodding his head over at Shelena. Coralie shrugged her shoulders in response, trying to avoid the question for as long as she possibly could- Nathaniel, however, noticed.
“Well we have mumbled something along the lines of hello but bitchier” she replied, turning her attention back to the Charms homework in front of her. Since they’d arrived back at school the professors had begun to pile mountains of homework on to everyone for the up and coming N.E.W.T’s.
"Just be careful" Nathaniel sighed, pursing his lips together slightly before opening his own Charms book- he read a few lines before glancing back up at Coralie. "I don't want you ending up in the Hospital Wing again"
"I'll be fine, honest" Coralie replied, scribbling down something she had just thought of to add to her three foot long essay.
"Whatever you are worrying about Nate, don't" Sarah interrupted, throwing her books onto their table and joining them. Nathaniel sent her a look in response.
"He's worrying about Shelena getting me, again" Coralie explained and Sarah stared blankly at Nathaniel in response.
"Did you not see your girlfriend-" Coralie blushed slightly at this causing both Sarah and Nathaniel to break into wide grins. "-take on Millen before the holidays? She was winning"
"No, actually I didn't" he responded sternly before sighing again and burying his head in his Charms papers.
"Don't worry" Coralie added after the three of them were silent for a while, Nathaniel sent her a look and she rested her hands over his. "I'll be perfectly fine, Now Sarah- what did you write about the effects of the Bubblehead charm?"
Mary’s school shoes tapped along the corridors, at the sound of someone coming towards her she quickly sped up before ducking behind a tapestry. She sighed a little when she realised it was in fact two people- Coralie and Nathaniel, walking hand in hand in the direction of The Great Hall. It was coming up to dinner time therefore it made sense for their actions, not something that she was able to say for herself.
She hadn't had much time to talk with Coralie, with everything that was going on at the moment in her own life and she regretted it. She wanted to know the juicy details of her friends new relationship but she just didn't have the time or energy to do that now. As they finally passed, she ducked out of her hiding spot and made her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room hoping to have it to herself.
Sadly, she was mistaken. Cory was sitting in her favourite armchair watching the potrait hole, she knew he was waiting for her without even having to ask.
"Hey" he said with a smile, she was glad he didn't seem to be too upset with her which made her feel slightly better. She'd really being ignoring him lately and she felt horrible for it. "You want to come down to dinner?" Mary tried to smile, if she was being honest with herself then she just wanted to go up to bed and sleep until morning. She was beggining to doubt if that would ever happen.
"I'm just, really tired" she said solemnly and Cory sighed but nodded, he kissed her on the cheek and headed down to dinner by himself. Mary watched for a minute before heading upstairs, at least her dormitory room was empty.
She got changed into her pyjamas and was ready to snuggle up into her bed when she noticed something moving in one of her friend's beds- Coralie's bed. She frowned, took a step towards her own bed before grabbing her wand and carefully peeling back Coralie's sheets- screaming at what she found.
A snake.
After a minute Mary pursed her lips together and said a spell to get rid of it, she had a feeling that the present for Cora would have been from Shelena. Boy, was she going to be disappointed when Coralie didn't get the fright of her life tonight. With a small chuckle to herself, she climbed into her own bed and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
Lily glared at her Transfiguration book whole-heartedly, she had no idea why but for some reason it was probably the only subject at Hogwarts she didn’t understand completely and that annoyed the hell out of her. She loved Professor McGonagall as a teacher, and loved the idea of Transfiguration but some of the things just did not click.
“How are you going?” James’ voice interrupted her. He for one was exceptionally good at Transfiguration, in fact all the Marauders were- something that Snape had always tried to convince Lily was out of place. It had bothered her, around the same time she was still friends with Snape but now...not so much.
“That’s really the question I should be asking you, isn’t it?” She responded, she knew what he really wanted to know- the state of her father, but she didn’t feel like talking about it much. She hadn’t even told her friends nor had she mentioned the fact she hadn’t told them to her family during the holiday break.
“I’m fine” James responded, she knew this was hardly true though. Remus had told her when they had run into each other on the train ride back that James had been exceptionally close to his parents as long as Remus had known him, he was taking their death hard.
“Then I am too” Lily replied slyly, he sent her a look of disbelief which she gladly returned. At this, he pulled the seat next to her and sat down.
“It’s been hard but somehow being back here makes it slightly easier” he paused and ruffled his hair before continuing. “I think I’m kidding myself into believing that when I get home that they’ll be there waiting for me. It’s stupid, I know”
“It’s not stupid at all James, I keep telling myself that my father will get better-”she swallowed back at sob at this. “He isn’t going to though”
“You don’t know that” James replied immediately in a soft voice, but Lily nodded her head. He sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. “It’s not fair, is it?” she shook her head at this, fearing to say anything in case she simply burst into tears.
“Have you talked to someone else?” James shook his head instantly, staring down at the floor for a second before reverting his glance to Lily again.
“Sirius is still pissed with Shelena and hung up over Coralie, Remus is freaking out about N.E.W.T’s and Peter is hardly around. I can’t exactly talk to Noble about it either” James sighed, running his fingers through his hair nervously.
“Become best friends with Nathaniel then” Lily teased, James replied with a glare before scrunching up his nose. “Hey, he lost his parents too- It might be good to talk to someone who understands”
“Sirius would never talk to me again” he replied dryly, though Lily noticed a tinge of regret in his voice. She had the feeling that he would very much like to talk to someone who understood even if that was Nathaniel.
“He doesn’t have to know” He closed his eyes at this and let out a little sound of disbelief. “If Sirius finds out then tell him you were asking him how to win me over”
“And why would Peakes know a single thing about that?” Lily smiled cheekily at this, brushing down her skirt before replying.
“He seemed to be pretty good at getting Cors” James thought about this for a second.
“Touché” Lily’s smile broke into a grin and she pulled out her work again, shuffling closer to James so that he could explain Animaguses to her again- he was remarkably good at it for some reason. “What you said before, that was true but I can’t see Sirius taking it well” Lily only chuckled at this.
“How are you and Natey-poo then?” Coralie sent her brother a worried look before they both burst into fits of laughter that filled the Common Room in seconds. They were sent a few odd looks by some first years who were too scared to leave the Gryffindor Common Room except for meals and classes yet.
“Good, how are you and Azure?” she replied in the same teasing manner. Angus paled slightly in response before he tried to smile and pretend like nothing had happened. “What’s wrong?” Coralie asked immediately, her grin turning into a frown in a flash.
“We aren’t together, that’s it” Angus replied, staring down at the socks on his feet and did not utter another word.
“Oh Angus” Coralie said, kissing the top of his head before hugging him tightly. The two of them stayed like that for a while before he finally broke the silence.
“There’s another girl, Anastasia” Coralie frowned slightly- Angus wasn’t the kind of boy who liked two girls at a time- ever. “I think she likes me but there’s something odd going on”
“What do you mean?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows and Angus sighed in reply.
“She won’t tell me her last name”
Authors Note: I'm sorry this chapter is so blegh and short. I just for some reason could not make this chapter work. I hope you can all forgive me? Also last chapter I mentioned that I would give you clues about the sequel which is probably coming about April/May of this year so here is your one for this chapter- It begins four months after graduation. So I will see you next time with another chapter and clue!
Disclaimer: Only the OC's and parts of the plot belong to me. The story title is Taylor Swift's and everything else belongs to J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading.
"I expect everyone to hand in their three foot long essay on the due date this time around, that includes you Mr. Black. Class dismissed" With this McGonagall turned on her heel and began to shuffle her papers together, leaving the students to pack up their own things and head out by themselves.
"We only just got an essay last week" Peter whispered furiously to James, who shrugged his shoulders in response, his eyes stuck on Lily who was laughing about something with Coralie. "Are you even listening Prongs?"
"Course he's not. Why would he bother listening to your pathetic chit chat" Sirius interrupted, pushing his way between the two and darting out of the room- James noticed Coralie stare after him worryingly and before he got the chance to intervene she had already disappeared after him.
"Don't bother about him Wormtail, you know how he's been lately" James assured his friend.
"Is he still sour over Cora and Nate?" Lily asked, falling into step beside James. Peter nodded and James sighed, Lily took this as her answer.
"She'll probably get her head cut off for going after him" Remus added as he and Miranda joined the other three. All of them sighed, watching Sirius whisper something at Coralie which caused her to huff and turn on her heel.
"Prat" she muttered as she passed them, Lily and Miranda chuckled slightly at this before following after her.
"You okay?" Miranda asked, placing her hand on Coralie's shoulder.
"I think I'm actually starting to hate him" she responded with a half-smile before wrapping her arms around herself and following her friends down to lunch. At least she could see Nathaniel there even if it meant seeing Sirius again.
Sirius however did not feel like eating lunch, a rare occurrence for him as he could hardly think of a time where he was neither eating nor thinking about food before now. He didn't know why he got so riled up about Coralie, well that was a lie but he knew he was more angered by Peakes than he was by her.
He knew that every time he got angry with her that he was just pushing her closer to Peakes but sometimes he couldn't stop himself. Having Shelena around hardly helped.
Usually he wasn't one of those people who looked back on the past and wished to have everything the same again. In fact he was far happier now he was away from his terrible family. But for once, he wanted to be able to go back to the previous year. To James' New Year’s party and to not break up with Coralie, to not see Shelena.
Maybe it would have been worse for Coralie when Shelena did return but he knew deep inside that they would have been able to work through it. He didn't want to let go, even if Coralie had moved on, he wouldn't. Not until he knew he no longer stood a chance or maybe until he could stop loving her- whichever came first.
He shook these thoughts from his head as some footsteps made their way towards him. He expected it just to be a first or second year a little lost or distracted on their way to class. He didn't expect to see his brother standing before him.
"Regulus" he breathed, brushing some of his hair out of his face. His brother did not bat an eyelid in response, in fact he acted like he never heard or saw Sirius. "Hey, pay attention to me" He almost yelled when Regulus tried to pass through.
"Yes, Sirius?" Regulus responded, the blank look on his face disappearing for a moment in order to be replaced by a disgusted glance. He quickly built his barriers back up.
"Why aren't you at lunch?" Sirius asked, furrowing his eyebrows at the boy he had once tickled to the ground constantly. He could hardly believe this was who his little brother had become.
"Why do you care?" he replied coldly when Sirius didn't respond, he chuckled a chuckle that sent shivers down Sirius' back. "That's the correct answer, brother. You don't care and you never did" Regulus turned to leave before pausing for a moment, he stared back at his brother and opened his mouth once more. "Saw that girl finally wised up and chose a worthy pureblood, unlike yourself" At with that, he was gone again.
Dear Coralie,
Despite your extensive training thanks to yours truly, I do hope you haven't had to duel Millen yet. As Angus has not informed me of such thing, I'm taking that it hasn't happened? Which is good, keep that way for the sake of our mother- I swear she'll end up half crazy by the end of this year. You may want to write to her after you reply to me of course, make sure that you fill her in on the good parts of school too. Merlin knows she needs it.
Violet is bugging me to ask you about your new boyfriend, please for my sanity tell her in a separate letter to mine. I'm not sure I could take her screaming and gushing through an entire letter. Remind Angus to send a letter home as well, you know how mother gets. Also, we received a letter from father asking about us all- I know, who knew he even remembered that he had children? We lied and said we were all brilliant.
Hoping you are in fact, brilliant.
Love always,
Jacob + Violet (who really needs to learn to write her own letters)
Coralie chuckled at the letter in front of her before slipping it into her pocket. She was grateful that her brother knew when she needed cheering up sometimes without even having to ask. He was always good at making her laugh even when she didn't want to.
She pulled out her own parchment and wrote down a reply for Jacob, making sure to mention that she was fine and that his 'wonderful training had not been needed so far'. She made a mental note to write a letter for her mother and Violet, not bothering to send one to her father quite yet- it was doubtful that he'd even pick it up.
Coralie put her letter for Jacob into her pocket with the one she had gotten from him and headed outside to the Quidditch pitch- Nathaniel had been practicing for the last hour or so.
Moments after Coralie left, Shelena slipped into the same seat in the Common Room and pulled her own letter from her brother. Leo wasn't so great at making Shelena laugh, if anything it made her angrier than anything else in the world.
Shelena,
You have not written in a while to tell me of your progress so far with Bennett. I hope you have not gone soft again, I've already warned you not to let Black get in the way or any other of those silly boys for that matter. Must I remind you that you were the one begging to return to Hogwarts and to finish Bennett off, have you been so love struck that you have forgotten that?
Step it up, sister and hurry.
She sighed, the typical letter from her brother. No update on his life or that of their mother, and no questions about how she was going. Not at least in a way that showed he cared, that was him nowadays. It was all about the power and destruction; he hardly remembered who he was anymore. It was certain to her that he was no longer the carefree brother she once had.
She had heard that Bennett’s brother was quite similar, at least to what Leo used to be. She’d even see Coralie laughing over pictures of her brother that she showed the other girls in the dorm- they had all commented on how attractive he was. Shelena had wanted to join in then, if there was anything she was good at then it was picking attractive boys out but she knew she couldn’t.
She wished her brother; the proper one was back so that she could gossip with her friends and tell them funny stories about the things he used to do. Nobody wanted to hear those stories, Merlin even Shelena didn’t want to replay those kinds of memories in her head, not the ones where he father could make a surprise entrance.
If there was anything worse than Leo then it was remembering her father and the pain she felt inside when he died. With a deep breath, she plastered the stony look back on her face and tucked the letter away. Time to go back to her ‘usual’ self.
Once Nathaniel was changed back into his usual school uniform rather than his Quidditch gear, he and Coralie made their way to the library- it had become one of their favourite places to just chill out together. Granted, they couldn’t talk much while they were in there but they were able to sit around and read books and that was good enough for both of them.
In the previous few days, Lily and James had begun to join them at their table. Despite Lily constantly reminded Coralie that there was nothing between her and James, she had taken to leaving the pair by themselves while she and Nathaniel would make their way through the aisles.
She was still waiting for the day when they came back to see Lily and James holding hands under the table or something but it was yet to happen.
That particular day, Coralie and Nathaniel made their way through the aisle with books on Herbology. Nathaniel was looking for a book to study- constantly reminding Coralie that N.E.W.T’s were coming up and that he was terrible at the subject while she searched for new books for Alice whose boyfriend- Frank, apparently had a love for plants. Alice was trying to come up with a plant she could give her for his birthday that was coming up in the week.
“Please remind me why I picked this subject” Nathaniel groaned causing Coralie to chuckle at him, he pushed yet another book back into the bookshelf and slid to the floor resting his head on the books behind him.
“Because, as much as you complain, you love the subject” she reminded him, patting his head softly as she walked passed him.
“Whenever I said that, I was clearly too distracted by your beautiful face to know what I was saying” Coralie laughed at this and he sent her a wink in response before he ran his fingers through his hair again. “Can we go sit back at the table again? I want to slam my head repeatedly”
“No, we need to give Lily and James some time” Coralie replied, pulling out another couple of books and flicking through them quickly. She didn’t notice Nathaniel roll his eyes in response nor did she notice that he had stood up until he stole her books and set them behind her, leaning over to kiss her on the mouth.
“I like you a lot” he whispered and she smiled against his lips.
“I like you a lot too”
Authors Note: I almost thought I wouldn't get this chapter out today but here I am. I'd like to mention now that there are now only seven chapters left! And now for another little fact about the sequel, Leo Millen will play a smaller part! And so, I will see you all on Wednesday with Chapter 49! Thank you guys for reading!
Disclaimer: I am not J.K Rowling who owns most of the things mentioned below, I am not Taylor Swift who owns the story title. I do however I own the OC's and piece of the plot. Thank you for reading.
Another Hogsmeade weekend came around and so Sarah found herself sitting in the Three Broomsticks hoping to see the cute waiter again, only this time she was joined by Tyler rather than Coralie. This wasn’t ideal, she couldn’t really see Tyler being willing to giggle over a hot guy with an accent with her.
Then again, this was Tyler she was talking about and weirder things had happened.
She didn’t get much time to think over this, as the barman made his way out from behind the bar and passed their table- without even realising what she was really doing she turned to Tyler and whispered furiously at him over the table. “Say something to him”
“What?” Tyler responded, half-yelling but Sarah quickly shushed him. She motioned to the barman walking passed and repeated her words again. “Him?” Tyler asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly and watching after the man.
“Yes” Sarah said with sigh before her voice dropped down to what is was before. “Now quick, say something when he walks past” Tyler didn’t respond and as the barman passed again, Sarah was prepared to hex her friend when the barman stopped in front of their table.
“Hello, my name is John. Are you happy now?” Sarah burned bright red and turned her attention to a spot on the table that didn’t really exist though once John was gone, she smiled widely.
“You’re a little red there, Sarah” Nathaniel teased, drawing a seat up next to Sarah.
“Don’t you have any friends or are you intent on taking mine?” Tyler huffed, turning back to his butterbeer in order to ignore Nathaniel- he didn’t seem to notice the difference at all.
“Actually yes, why are you here?” Sarah asked, though she was much more polite than her friend had previously been.
“Cora’s out buying something for someone’s birthday apparently, I didn’t want to tag along” He explained, Sarah nodded understandingly but Tyler continued to ignore him. The three of them fell into an awkward silence, or at least that was the way Sarah perceived it. It wasn’t until John walked past, sending a wink in her direction that Nathaniel broke the silence. “Someone’s got their eye on you then” Sarah blushed again and averted her eyes to the table, all the while- they same small smile playing on her lips.
Rain poured heavily down on Leeds and therefore, down on Violet. She was beyond sick of this English weather by now; she was ready to move back to France as soon as she could. In fact, the thought had been running through her head for a while now.
She loved the art classes she was taking in Leeds; she’d even made a few friends that she occasionally went out for a coffee with or maybe to the local library. Nothing more though.
Friends weren’t her main reason for wanting to move back to France, she hadn’t really had many friends at home either- she was more comfortable without them, besides she and her siblings had now become a lot closer, who else did she need really?
That was really the only thing keeping her England- the rest of the family. If she moved back to France, sure she could move back into their old house and get it all fixed up again but it would be at least two years until her mother was willing to move back at least then Angus, being the last of them to go through school would have finished.
Violet knew that the rest of her family didn’t really love England, sure Coralie and Angus adored Hogwarts and all the friends they had met there but for as long as all of them would live, France would always be home.
With this thought, she carefully stepped into the rain- propping up an umbrella she had borrowed from her mother and darting into the rain. Even with the umbrella, she found herself soaked through and through by the time she even reached the next place to take cover under.
She could see, a little in the distance that Jacob was waiting for her in the tiny little car that she had once hated with every fibre of her being. She supposed that due to the fact that it no longer bothered her, signified that she had in fact grown up over the year- and for that, she was incredibly glad.
She waited for the rain to die down slightly before she madly dashed towards his car, holding her art book as close to her stomach as she possibly could- she couldn't stand the thought of her art being ruined. Once she reached the car, she went to grab onto the car door to swing it open only to find Jacob etched the car forward slightly. Despite the fogging of thee car, she could see Jacob laughing through her hair that had begun to stick to her face.
"Stop it" she said, she didn't raise her voice like she would have a year or so ago. She didn't quite understand why, but for some reason she was even laughing. Eventually, Jacob swung open the door and Violet slipped in. She threw her bag and umbrella into the backseat as well as her art book before looking over at Jacob and laughing.
"Come on then, let's get home before you soak my car too much" Jacob chuckled, pulling out of the parking space and headed in the direction of their house. They were silent for a while, Jacob's favourite muggle radio station playing in the background.
"I've been thinking" Violet started and Jacob pulled a face in a teasing manner; he didn't have to speak for Violet to know what he would say. "I might move out"
"You, move out before me?" Jacob responded, half in a serious manner and half in his usual joking manner.
"Angus will probably move out before you, Jakey" She teased in response and he sent her a fake glare. "But really, I think I want to move back to France"
"Don't you like England, Vi?" The joking manner is his voice had almost completely disappeared by now. Violet wanted to shake her head, there were parts of England she loved- the people, the landscape, the buildings, the history- it was all amazing but there was something missing for her. Something that kept it from being home.
"France is home" She simply responded and Jacob made no reply. This left Violet wondering whether she was needed too much here, with her family.
Regulus Black usually wasn't the kind of person who got caught up with Hogwart's latest gossip but this year, that was different. His friends sometimes joked around with him, telling him he was going to become a giggling girl from Hufflepuff if he paid much more attention but it wasn't the 'she stole my boyfriend' kind of gossip he was interested in.
It was Sirius. Sirius, Millen and Bennett to be exact. Something about that little love triangle caught his attention more than he would have expected. Those who didn't know Regulus, Sirius or anyone in the Black family whatsoever would have said he was just looking out for his brother, but Regulus didn't look out for that blood-traitor. Not anymore.
He found it ironic that Sirius had fought so hard to break away from pureblood traditions only to find himself caught in a love triangle with two other pureblooded girls. He had to wonder what his mother would say if she knew.
Technically she did know, or at least she knew about Millen and Bennett separately. Mrs. Black wasn't the kind of woman who got caught up with gossip either, as long as it wasn't tarnishing the good name that Regulus had built up for himself. If Regulus were the one mixed in the web, he could only imagine the one his mother would pick out.
She would tell him that they both had redeeming qualities, while they were both Gryffindor both of them came from good pureblooded lines that dated back centuries- though Bennett would earn an extra point for being the first Gryffindor in the family- that was a trait that could be stamped out if need be. Their French heritage would certainly please his mother too, for some reason she had a taste for the Parisian lifestyle despite never leaving England herself.
Personality wise, Millen would earn big points for being a manipulative little bitch but Bennett could be viewed as the perfect lady- much like Regulus' cousin Narcissa. In fact the two of them probably shared some qualities; Regulus had never bothered to speak with the former though. Millen however reminded him more of his cousin Bellatrix. It was difficult to say which of those two his mother would prefer.
He knew Sirius wouldn't care though, though it made Regulus wonder whether he'd pick the opposite of whichever his mother would choose just to spite her. He was exceptionally good at doing that for the past seventeen years of his life and Regulus doubted that it was something Sirius would ever grow out of.
"Still daydreaming about all the attractive boys in our year level, eh Reg?" Barty Crouch Jr, one of Regulus' best friends asked with a chuckle. Regulus only snorted in response before the two of them headed down to dinner together, all of the younger Black's thoughts buried deep into the back of his mind.
Something was wrong. In fact, something had been very wrong with Remus for weeks. It bothered Miranda endlessly; there was just that constant nagging noise in the back of her head to remind her that something was wrong. Even when things felt perfect, it was still there making sure to keep Miranda on her toes at all times.
She'd asked him about it, a few days back and he had simply told her that he was fine.
If there was anything Miranda hated in the world, it was that one word- 'fine'. What did it even mean? Did it mean that Miranda was the one causing all the problems? Was she so blind to have missed the signs completely? If she thought about it, it made sense somewhat.
She'd tried to be a good girlfriend; the whole werewolf thing never bothered her, honestly. She tried not to show pity, she knew Remus did not take well to that at all but she was at a lost. She didn't know how to act around him anymore.
And there it was the big problem.
They weren't made for each other, at least not anymore but then that was saying that they had once been made for each other and Miranda didn't know if that was truth. She could hardly think straight when that thought entered her mind; it consumed her- all day and all night.
She couldn't bear to ask Remus in fear of hurting him even though she knew something was wrong, he knew something was wrong too. Hell, probably half the school knew something was wrong by now. This didn't help her out at all though; she wanted to be able to talk about it with someone.
Lily had been off with James all week though- the pair of them were so close now that everyone was just waiting for the day when they came out as couple. Coralie was much the same with Nathaniel, though obviously the two of them were together now and were becoming closer and cuter every day. Mary was off with Cory, though sometimes they appeared to be having difficulties they always seemed strong. Alice and Frank were forever inseparable. Kiki was off flirting with that Alex boy again. Marlene had thrown herself head first into studying which left one person.
And so, Miranda found herself sitting across from Shelena in an abandoned classroom that very afternoon.
"I don't understand why you need me" Shelena asked, the venom in her voice as cutting as ever. The two of them had never really been close friends so it made sense that she would have to ask.
"I didn't know who else to talk to" She responded, staring at the ground though for a moment she swore she saw a smug smile on Shelena's lips.
"What seems to be the problem then Miri?" Shelena asked in a patronizing tone.
"This isn't some psychologist appointment" Miranda stated harshly and Shelena nodded. "I need help with Remus" Shelena perked up at this, a grin appearing on her face within seconds of the words leaving Miranda's mouth.
"That, I can help you with" She twisted the side of her lips slightly and let out a small chuckle. Instantly, Miranda wondered whether this would be a good idea after all.
Hogsmeade was pretty much empty compared to the usual trips; apparently most of the students had decided it was far too cold and instead stayed back at school. Most of the seventh years however, with the exceptions of one or two, were all in attendance for what would be their last trip of the year.
This thought hadn't left Alice's mind for the entirety of the past two weeks. She would miss Hogsmeade in a way though she knew she could easily apparate there if she was ever in need for some Honeydukes chocolate. She was more excited about the fact her seventh year would be drawing to a close shortly and then she would be free.
Free to be with Frank whenever she wanted. At this, she turned her head to smile at him as he laced his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand tightly. He had managed to get the weekend off Auror training in order to come and visit her for the afternoon.
"The Three Broomsticks?" He asked with a grin and she nodded in reply, cuddling into his side in order to keep herself warm from the freezing weather- Frank smiled down at her with what she and her friends had deemed the 'Frank-smile' before they were together and while he was still in school.
It seemed crazy to her that in less than six months she would be finished at Hogwarts for good and would be starting her own auror training under Mad-Eye Moody. She was excited but she was scared as well. She wondered if she would become too busy to able to catch up with her friends and whether she'd even ever see some of them again. It had passed all of the girls’ minds that they would all be heading in very different directions.
Coralie was even considering heading back to France for a few months to catch up with the friends she had back there, she knew it had passed a few of their minds as to whether she'd ever come back. Sometimes it seemed like the only thing that was keeping Coralie around was Hogwarts and Nathaniel. Well in a few months Hogwarts would be gone from their lives and it was highly likely that Nathaniel would follow Cora wherever she would go.
While the rest of the girls were staying in England for the timing being, it didn't mean they wouldn't be apart for a while. Marlene was beginning Healer training almost straight after graduation, Lily was being thrown into planning her dreadful sister's wedding to a man that Lily described to look 'more like a whale than a person'. Mary wanted to travel around Britain more and to hopefully discover her family history a bit more; of course Cory would be tagging along.
The other's futures hung in the air. Who knew what Kiki would end up doing with her life? And Miranda? Sure, Miranda was intelligent enough to get into whatever she wanted and everyone knew she'd get the grades but she seemed uncertain. And then, there was the big one- What would happen to Shelena?
"You alright?" Frank asked, taking both of Alice's hands in his in order to warm them up a little- she smiled at him softly.
"Just thinking about the future" She responded.
“Whatever happens” Frank paused for a moment to kiss her hands, “I’ll be there”
Authors Note: I'm so sorry that I skipped my update on Wednesday, I've been super busy with school and being sick this past week but now I'm all better so expect my regular updates again. I'd like to thank Keziah for helping me choose who to put in this chapter, also if anyone else has any requests of characters they'd like to see more of then tell me in a review- I will try my best! Anyway, thank you for reading and see you all on Monday.
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of this plot belong to me. The story title belongs to Taylor Swift and everything else if J.K Rowling's- I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you reading!
The corridor seemed quiet as Coralie made her way down to the Great Hall for dinner that night. She had spent the entire day in outside with Nathaniel despite the fact it still hadn’t warmed up, but they had split ways in order to head to their respective Common Rooms and had promised to meet down at dinner.
And so Coralie continued on her way down to dinner, smiling at a few of the younger students she had seen around the common room. Besides them, she was pretty much alone. It had been a very rare occurrence since Halloween, her friends had all made a pact with Nathaniel to make sure she wasn't left alone for too long, not when Shelena could find her.
She was grateful that her friends took good care of her but there were times she just wanted to have a nice quiet break and some time to herself- to read a book or rather to sort through the material her mother sent her about the curse. There had been no breakthroughs as of yet, at least none that would help her in any way.
"Enjoying your sweet life?" Coralie sighed, wishing for once that her friends were actually stricter and never left her alone. She really wasn't in the mood for Shelena's silly games right now and therefore, she didn't bother to grant Shelena with a response. "Come on Bennett, don't let me be bored"
"I'm not some toy for your entertainment Millen" Coralie shot back and Shelena lips twisted with joy at her words.
"Haven't you learnt anything so far this year Bennett?" Shelena replied with a smirk plastered on her face. "Everyone is toy for my amusement. You, Nathaniel, Lily, James, Alice, Kiki...Sirius" Coralie pursed her lips together.
"Well, no one wants to play with you. It's about time you learnt that" Shelena only chuckled wildly in response.
"Sweetheart, what makes you think I care if you want to play or not?" She whispered, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "Just like Leo doesn't care whether he plays with you or your sister, you're both easy to crack"
"That's funny" Coralie responded, her voice filling with malice at the mention of Leo's name. "Your pathetic brother hasn't had the time apparently to bother us" Shelena tensed at this and Coralie filled with pride. She was about to walk away when Shelena grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back.
"Don't you dare mess with me" Shelena whispered furiously, Coralie almost stepped back- she hadn't heard Shelena talk more violently than she had just then. Beforehand, it had always been a game for her but now it seemed to mean more. "And stay away from Sirius" Shelena spat, turning on her heel but this time Coralie had the upper-hand.
"Sirius doesn't want you" She replied instantly and Shelena turned on her heel to glare at her.
"And he won't want you much longer" She spoke with fierce anger. "He's tried battling Peakes before and now he's realising just how alike you and I are" Coralie growled at this, scrunching her nose up in disgust about being compared to Shelena. "Besides, trust me. Neither of them are worth it"
"Is that why you are so desperate to get Sirius back?" Coralie questioned non-chantaly, "It doesn't matter anyway, because if he doesn't want me then he sure as hell won't want you"
"It's not my fault, you are leading him on" Shelena almost screamed, she then took a deep breath and sent her fiercest glare she could manage before almost sprinting off.
Once she was gone, Coralie leant against the castle wall and closed her eyes. What was Shelena going on about?
Lily was relieved to hear that her father had almost made a fully recovery since she had returned to school though she could almost hear Petunia's voice in her head saying 'Since you left, freak, daddy has gotten better'.
For some reason, it didn't bother her nearly as much as she had thought it would. She was glad that he had gotten better, there was no doubt that if he had died before her graduation that home wouldn't have been the same.
Despite this, she still felt terrible for James who was still grieving over his parent’s death even if he did try to hide it from everyone else- she knew him to well to miss it.
It was funny thing for her to think, that she actually knew James Potter well enough to be able to tell his moods and what he was thinking about. If someone had told her she'd grow this close to him, last year, she would have hexed them for even thinking it.
Now, she considered him as one of her best friends.
The two of them were sitting outside together by a big tree that Lily didn't know the name of- the main thing was that it was something nice to lean against.
Lily had been reading a book of Potions, there N.E.W.T exam was less than two months away now and she had never been one to leave her study to the last minute. James on the other hand had been reading a book about Quidditch, at no surprise to her.
"Do you remember fifth year?" James broke the silence with an inquisitive glance at her. Lily nodded in despite of herself, she didn't really want to remember their fifth year if she could help it. "When Sniv-" he paused for a moment before correcting himself, "Snape, called you a mu-muggle born"
"Yes, I remember" Lily snapped, before sighing and apologising to James whose eyes had gone wide with a mixture of worry and excitement.
"You called me a toe-rag" James continued and Lily furrowed her eyebrows slightly as this before laughing.
"I believe that I did" James grinned at this and nudged her side softly.
"What changed?" His voice dropped at this question to a soft whisper, Lily stayed silent for a moment before she sighed quietly.
"I suppose you did" she answered and James nodded like he did not quite understand where Lily was coming from.
"Have I changed enough?" He asked, a look of uncertainty crossing his features for a moment. Lily was speechless. The thought had certainly crossed her mind a few times in the past month or so, well more than that if she was going to be honest with herself.
James had most certainly changed, she used to see him as an ignorant toe-rag but now he seemed sweeter and most definitely the kind of person that Lily would be friends with. She knew that wouldn't be enough for James though, he had always wanted to be more but would Lily let him?
"I don't know" This time James was speechless for a while, before he sighed and closed his Quidditch book and threw it to the side. Lily chuckled at his dramatics.
"You know that I still fancy you, I've always fancied you" Lily nodded and James grinned at her. "Is there a chance you could ever fancy me back?"
"Yes" Lily responded almost instantly.
"Is there a chance you fancy me now?" He said bluntly but with a kind tone to his voice.
"Yes" Lily said before they both broke into infectious grins.
The words that Shelena had spoken to her ran through Coralie's mind for days. It wasn't until she had repeated them to Angus that she understood.
"Well, she somewhat fancies Sirius still in her bitchy way and Sirius still fancies you but you and Nathaniel are together" Angus had told her, "She's just jealous because they both like you more than her."
From there, the thought had popped into Coralie's mind. It was a terrible thought but it seemed like the only option left for her.
She didn't dare tell anyone what she was thinking of doing, not Nathaniel, not Angus, not any of the girls and especially not James. She couldn't bear to think what they'd think of her after this.
"Hey Cora" Sirius said unsurely as he opened the door to his dorm room.
"Can I come in?" she asked, trying desperately to sound more confident than she was. It would be easier for both of them this way.
"Yeah, um...It's just me here" Sirius explained with an uncertain look in his eyes, Coralie nodded and told him that she knew that already. She'd planned it this way. "What do you need?"
"To talk to you" she responded, taking a deep breath. At this, Sirius furrowed his eyebrows slightly but didn't say anything to interrupt her. She couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. "You need to back off"
"What?" Sirius asked with such emotion in his voice that Coralie wanted to wrap him in her arms and not let go until he understood, but she couldn't. "I don't understand"
"I'm with Nathaniel now" She said sternly though her mind felt like it was ready to go into mental breakdown stage.
"I know that" Sirius responded.
"Then why do you still fancy me?" She spat at him with more venom than she had intended. He looked taken aback for a moment before his eyes glazed over.
"I don't know" He yelled back at her so furiously that Coralie felt tears prick in her eyes. "You're worse than her you know. I thought you were different actually," He paused for moment to send her a look of disgust. "But you are just like Shelena" Coralie shut her eyes for a moment; the words stung more than she cared to admit.
"You're right, absolutely right" She managed to say after a few minutes of silence. "I'm just like her" With that, she turned on her heel and shakingly made her way down the stairs- collapsing onto her bed in a fit of sobs.
Never had she hated Shelena more.
Author's Note: Wow guys! That was chapter fifty, can you believe there are only five chapters? On that note, there are only ten remaining days until this story is completely finished- Insane, right?
Even more exciting, I have decided on the post date for the sequel which will be...*drum roll* May 4th of this year! And so there are a few weeks without anything Coralie related being posted but I will be updating some of my other stories! I shall see you all on Wednesday!
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all I own. The story title belongs to Taylor Swift and everything else is J.K Rowling's. Thank you for reading.
"I don't understand what this whole Easter thing is about" Nathaniel stated, squeezing Coralie's side softly as Mary tried to explain what she, Cory, Alice and Sarah had been trying to plan for everyone all week.
"Maybe if you paid attention and stopped fondling Bennett then you'd understand" Sirius spat, Nathaniel went to respond but Coralie shot him a look. He seemed to understand though Coralie had still not told her what she had done; she doubted that he would really care as long as she was okay.
"Anyway, we hid little chocolate eggs on the grounds and you all need to find as many as you can" Mary said softly as Sirius glared over at Coralie and Nathaniel, who just to annoy him further bought Coralie closer and kissed her lips softly.
"You ready beautiful?" Coralie didn't respond but nodded softly, pulling Nathaniel away by his hand before he could start something with Sirius. "Prat" He muttered, glaring back at him.
"Don't" Coralie whispered and let go of his wrist before grabbing a basket from Alice and walking off. She wasn't in the mood at all for an 'Easter Egg Hunt' as Cory had dubbed it. She had planned on spending the day inside, getting ready for N.E.W.T's as they were fast approaching. Her friends however had very different plans.
She knew a few of the others didn't really want to be there either, Nathaniel most definitely would have preferred to keep his distance from the Marauders until graduation came around just as the Marauders wanted to avoid him. Lily and James had gotten together during the week much to all the girl's delights and Coralie got the feeling they'd rather be alone to talk, or not.
Remus and Peter hadn’t even shown up though James had explained that Remus had returned to take care of his sick mother for the weekend and would return on Monday, Peter was simply feeling a little under the weather apparently.
Kiki was by far the grumpiest on that particular day, Coralie almost wanted to ask what was wrong but she'd seen how protective her friend could get. She didn't really want her head to be bitten off. Weirdly enough, Coralie didn't even need to bother- by the time she'd found four measly eggs and had given up; Kiki had come to join her by a tree.
"Boys suck" She said simply without even looking over at Coralie who frowned slightly but didn't say anything in response. "I know you've got Peakes so you probably don't see it, but it's true"
"Nate isn't perfect" Kiki snapped her head around at this and furrowed her eyebrows before letting out a groan.
"I wish all the prats in the world would just jump off a bridge or something" She stated, picking a leaf off the ground and tearing it into tiny pieces.
"Are you alright?" Coralie asked worriedly, placing her hand on Kiki's arm- her friend just turned to glare at her.
"Of course I'm not" She snapped, causing Coralie to pull her arm back out of fear. She'd never seen her friend act so odd. Then again, everyone had been acting odd lately. Coralie wasn't sure whether it was due to N.E.W.T's or the fact that within a few short months they would all be finished at Hogwarts for good and would be sent out into the real world. The real world where a war was brewing.
Coralie was scared, she could hardly imagine what the others were feeling- especially the ones who had been directly affected, like James and Nathaniel. Coralie didn't even want to think about what Nathaniel might do to certain people if he was given the chance.
"Are you scared about leaving?" Coralie whispered and Kiki sighed and shook her head like she was annoyed with Coralie for even thinking lowly of her.
"Don't be stupid. I'll be glad to get out of here and away from everyone" Coralie sighed at this, deciding to give up on trying to calm her friend down in absolutely any way or even to try and coax her into talking- clearly it wasn't working. Besides when Kiki didn't want to do something, she usually got her way.
The pair fell into a silence, the only noise audible seemed to be rustling in trees and the occasional footsteps as their friends ran past. Everyone seemed to be enjoy the egg hunt bar the two of them despite the fact it was starting to get dark, it was almost impossible to see anything that wasn't lit by the moon. This kind of upset Coralie more than she had thought it would, she wanted to be able to have fun and run around like a little girl for a few hours. Something was holding her back though.
Despite knowing it wasn't the cause of her lack of excitement, the egg hunt reminded her of her father and for once she actually wished he was there with her. He had always loved chocolate and would sometimes even create similar hunts inside the house for Coralie and her siblings.
Angus had always been the best at finding them, he had a knack for noticing things that most people didn't and he was still small at the time. Jacob had accused him of cheating a couple of times. Whether that was true or not, they'd probably never find out at least Angus wouldn't willingly admit to it in this lifetime.
Coralie was about to stand up and head back to the Common Room, fully prepared to just sit around and laugh with Angus for a while about their childhood memories. There was nothing she had wanted to do more at that moment but an ear-pitching scream had cut her off.
"What the?" Kiki exclaimed, but Coralie had already discarded her basket and was searching desperately for one of her friends while Kiki stood by and did nothing.
It felt like forever for Coralie until she noticed Nathaniel making his way out of a bunch trees a little higher up the hill than her. He seemed to notice her at the exact time and was just as relieved to see her, only for different reasons. It hadn't even crossed her mind that Nathaniel might have thought it was her.
"Thank Merlin" He whispered, wrapping his arms around her as tight as possible and placing a kiss on top of her head. She wasn't entirely sure why but before she knew it Coralie was hugging him tighter than she had previously thought was possible for her and was quietly crying into his chest. He didn't say anything and only held her tighter.
"Who was that?" James appeared, out of breath with Lily following closely behind. The latter took one look at Coralie and was by her side, whispering her that it would be alright though Lily also looked like she'd be sobbing. "Lils, stay her with Cors and Nate and I will go look"
"I'm not leaving Cora here in the dark" Nathaniel stated, squeezing his girlfriend's shoulder tightly as if to remind her that he wasn't going anywhere.
"Alright, all four of us will walk together" James agreed, bringing Lily to his side and rubbing her back while she brushed away her own tears.
"Who are we missing?" Nathaniel asked, "Sarah and Tyler will most likely be together and I'm not sure Sarah could scream that loud or that high-pitched"
"Tyler on the other hand" Coralie added between deep breaths, Nathaniel smiled brightly at her and despite the situation she found herself grinning back. "But really, I was with Kiki so she's fine, she headed back to the Common Room pretty quick. We're missing Mary, Cory, Marlene, Alice, Miranda, Sarah, Tyler and Sirius" The four of them sighed and picked up a quicker pace, in hope they would find the others before it was far too dark to even see.
In the space of roughly ten minutes, by which time everyone had their wands out with ‘Lumos’ cast to help them along the way- they’d found Sirius, Mary and Cory who were conducting a similar search as they were.
“Enjoyed being with the love birds?” Coralie heard James tease, Sirius only grunted in response and sent a glare at her when he caught her looking- she quickly diverting her eyes noticing an Easter egg that no one had found on the ground, Nathaniel seemed to notice it too and handed it over to her with a smile.
“You okay?” He whispered and she nodded though they both knew that was lie. They were both worrying about Sarah and Tyler, despite what Nathaniel said and how he sometimes acted, he valued both of their friendships not that he would ever admit that to Tyler’s face.
“Tyler?” Coralie whispered as the boy in question appeared from behind a tree which caused everyone to stop.
“Hey, Sarah’s got her foot caught in a hole” He said so seriously and calmly that everyone stare at him for a couple minutes while they wondered who he was. “Well come on, before the sun comes up”
“Was Sarah the one who screamed?” Lily asked as they followed Tyler down the hill a little, he shook his head.
“She slipped because of the scream” Beside Coralie, Nathaniel let out a little snort but covered it up quickly with a cough. Tyler sent him a look but smiled a little himself.
“About time Tyler,” Sarah sighed when she finally came into view of everyone, “I thought you’d finally gone mad and was planning on leaving me here until I died.”
“Not yet” Tyler replied with a chuckle, leaving Nathaniel to pull her out of the hole and set her back on the ground.
“Well I’m glad” Sarah responded quickly, “Who screamed?”
“Not sure yet” James replied with a frown as they all continued on.
Everyone was beginning to get cold and even more worried when there was another scream, not as loud as the last but loud enough to get everyone running.
And there, in front of the Whomping Willow stood Marlene with tears streaming down her face at an incredible speed.
Everyone stopped.
“We don’t know what happened,” Marlene explained between sobs, she moved slightly to the side so that everyone could see the body in behind her, “It’s Miranda”
Authors Note: Dun, Dun, Da! Finally, a let more action for you guys and I promise from here until the last chapters, It's going to be a wild ride so hold on tight! On that note, I will see you Friday with Chapter 52!
Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that are mine. The story title is Taylor Swift's and everything else is J.K Rowling's. Thank you for reading!
"I trust you know why I have called you into my office today, Mr. Lupin" Dumbledore said with a grave smile as he looked at Remus through his half-moon spectacles.
"Yes" Remus whispered so softly that he was surprised Dumbledore could even hear him; he quickly diverted his eyes when the headmaster sighed sadly and went back to nervously picking at his hands.
"You understand that I for one do not believe that you are capable of such an act but it is school policy to check anyway" Dumbledore paused for a moment, "Is there anything you have to say Remus?" Remus didn't get a chance to answer, the door to Dumbledore's office had swung open and McGonagall stormed in to take a place beside Remus- she placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly.
"This is ludicrous Albus! Do you honestly think Mr. Lupin would be able to do such a thing?" Despite the anger she was clearly harboring, McGonagall still spoke with her usual calm tone.
"Of course not Minerva, I don't believe Mr. Lupin would harm a fly but Poppy informed me that it was a werewolf act on Miss Perry and therefore I must question Mr. Lupin" Dumbledore explained before shifting his focus back to Remus, the scene had only made him more nervous.
"I don't remember the night" He explained with a solemn face, "I don't know if I did it or not"
"Of course, it's understandable" McGonagall assured him with another squeeze on his shoulder.
"Until Miss Perry wakes us, I'm afraid that I cannot clear your name" Dumbledore said with his own solemn expression playing out on his features. "I will not report you to the Ministry though if Miss Perry confirms it was you then I will forced to"
"Thank you professor" Remus exclaimed with a relieved sigh though in all honestly he still wasn't feeling much calmer about the situation at hand at all. He wasn't even sure he'd feel relieved truly even if Miranda told them it wasn't him. It very well could have been.
"Off you go then Mr. Lupin, I'm sure your friends are waiting for you at the bottom of my stairs" Dumbledore smile knowingly as Remus headed out of his office, and of course at the bottom of the stairs were his friends.
"So?" James asked nervousness clear in the air and on all of his friend's faces.
"We have to wait for Miranda to wake up" Remus explained at his friends all let out sighs before they began to walk back to the Common Room. "I have to tell the girls"
"Don't be stupid" Sirius replied fiercely before Remus even really had the chance to finish his own sentence. "What if they think you did it?"
"I might have" Remus responded, a sad look flooding his face.
"No" James whispered at which point Remus shook his head and ignored his comment.
"You guys can't prove it" Sirius made to interrupt but Remus brushed him off with a single wave of his hand. "As much as I don't want it to be true, it could be and I'm just going to have to accept it if that's the truth"
"It won't be" Peter assured him instantly and James and Sirius nodded in agreement but even his friend's support could not make Remus feel better right now.
"I still have to tell the girls" Remus concluded, quickening his pace towards the Common Room.
Miranda pulled her coat tighter around herself, shivering slightly from the cold despite it being Spring. She was enjoying this Easter egg hunt that her friends had set up, it was a good time to be able to think.
Think about Remus to be exact and what Shelena had said to her the other day. It had seemed like bad advice at the time but the more and more she thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make.
Remus, himself, was at the Egg hunt. It was a Full Moon that night and so he was off preparing himself for his transformation, it was Miranda's job as well as Sirius and James' essentially to keep everyone away while Peter looked after Remus by himself.
She had no idea how that was supposed to work but didn't dare question the Marauders about something she knew they all took very seriously.
Miranda walked aimlessly around for a little, she knew there probably weren't many eggs hidden around the Whomping Willow but there was a possibility she could see Remus before he went to transform if she hung around here for a bit and at least she knew no one else would interrupt her.
Soon enough, after Miranda had taken to seating on a nearby rock- Remus made his way outside. He hugged her tightly and whispered an 'I love you' into her ear before disappearing into the secret passage he had told her about.
She wasn't sure why but she hung around for a bit longer, she had planned to be gone before Remus began to transform so that she wouldn't have to hear his screams but she found herself still standing by when the sky went dark and the moon came out.
That's when it happened.
One second there was a slight rustling in the bushes, Miranda had figured it was just one of her friends but then something pounced at her and pinned her down to the ground.
In front of her were two big beady eyes staring down at her- a werewolf.
"Remus?" It had fallen out of her mouth before she had gotten the chance to stop it. The werewolf however just growled, it's paw realising her slightly in a moment of shock.
She crawled backwards a few inches before her hand snapped a twig and the wolf was pay attention to her again.
She tried to stand up and run but it pinned her down again, she only just managed to scream before everything around her was black.
The same dream again.
She couldn't escape it. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't wake up.
She could hear people talking around her- Madam Pomfrey, Lily, the other girls and Remus but they couldn't hear her no matter how loud she yelled.
She felt invisible. Like she didn't belong in this world anymore, like a ghost floating through the air.
Was this what it would be like forever? If this was to be her life then she wanted out. There was emptiness here.
There was nothing.
Unfournately for James, Sirius and Peter, who had been preparing to talk Remus out of telling everyone about his 'furry little problem' once they were all in the comfort of the dormitory, the girls were all sitting in the Common Room by the fire.
"I need to talk to you guys" Remus stated, standing in front of the girls- they all looked up at him, almost all of their eyes were still red from tears.
"Not here" James added, motioning to their room where at least no one would overhear them. The girls followed, sending nervous looks at each other and to the boys.
"Is this about Miranda?" Alice squeaked, her voice almost completely gone from the tears.
"Sort of" Remus responded, this caused the girls to send each other odd looks before they took seats of the boy's bed and floors- all huddled together as if to protect one another.
"What is it then?" Mary asked her eyes were big and wide like usual though they were red and puffy.
"I'm a werewolf" Remus spluttered about before anyone else managed to get a word in. The room was completely silent for a few minutes before Marlene spoke up.
"Why are you telling us?" She asked a look of utter despair on her face- one that closely mirrored almost all of the other girls.
"Miranda was attacked" Coralie whispered before taking a deep breath, "By a werewolf"
"It wasn't you" Lily responded instantly and Coralie and Alice were quick to agree with her while Mary and Marlene took a moment's longer to process it.
"You don't know that Lily" Kiki spat, sending a glare at Remus that made him want to run and hide. "How many werewolves do you know running around the school?"
"Kiki!" Coralie whispered furiously, sending her a stern glare in the hope to shut her up. The girls knew what Kiki had said was true, but they all wanted to believe otherwise.
"You attacked Miranda" Kiki yelled, staring him right in the eye before she scrunched her nose up in disgust. "You monster!" Lily gasped at this before Kiki stormed out.
"I'm so sorry Remus" Mary broke the silence, sending him a pitying look before running out after Kiki.
"You're not" Alice stated, standing up from her place on the floor to wrap her arms around him tightly. "It doesn't make a difference to the person you are, and we all know you would never hurt anyone"
"Does that even matter anymore?" Remus whispered and the girls all went to comfort him. "Kiki is right, I am a monster"
“There’s something wrong” Nathaniel stated as he and Coralie made their way through the grounds later on that day. Coralie remained silent; she hadn’t told Nathaniel about Remus and was still hiding the Sirius debacle from him. "Come on Cors, you can tell me what's up"
"Nothing is up" Coralie responded calmly, walking a little quicker though, of course, Nathaniel fell in step with her without even having to try.
"Come on" he whispered, pulling her into his side and hugging her tightly. She rested her head on his shoulder as they kept walking.
"It's just Miranda and all" Coralie added after a few minutes silence. Nathaniel sighed and kissed the top of her head, assuring her that everything would be alright.
"Is that it?" She nodded but Nathaniel didn't look convinced, "Is that why Black called you by your last name yesterday, hm?" Coralie frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. Sure, she had noticed Sirius' words and it had pained her slightly but she didn't think anyone else had noticed, well, apparently she'd been wrong.
"I did something really horrible" She whispered and Nathaniel stared down at her with worried eyes, she continued on. "I told Sirius to get over me"
"It's not horrible" Nathaniel replied with a sigh. "You've moved on and so should he" Coralie shook her head.
"That's fine," Coralie paused, taking a deep breath before she spoke again. "It was the way I did it- I was so horrible to him and he doesn't deserve it"
"Cors, honestly, he broke it off with you- and thank Merlin he did, but it's not your fault" Coralie smiled softly, reaching up to kiss Nathaniel on the cheek.
"Thank you" she whispered. The pair fell into a comfortable silence, their shoes crunching the fallen leaves making the only sound outside.
"I need the bathroom" Nathaniel said with a sigh, causing Coralie to break into a fit of giggles- he poked his tongue out at her and hugged her tightly.
"Way to ruin the moment" Coralie teased, placing a soft kiss on Nathaniel's lips which he returned without a moment's thought. "Well, go on then. I'll wait for you here" Nathaniel smiled and broke away, he head back up to the castle, looking behind him every now and again to make sure she wasn't going anywhere.
Once he had disappeared from sight, Coralie tilted her head back slightly with a laugh. She twirled around on the spot and kicked a few leaves off the ground gracefully. She felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her back and she was finally able to breathe again.
She was so lucky to have Nathaniel, he always understood her even when she thought she was being a little crazy. He was almost perfect. With a grin, she spun around again though this time something caught her eye.
"Merlin" she whispered, taking a few desperate steps backwards.
In front of her was a large werewolf- Remus, maybe, she didn't know. All she was worried about was that it seemed to be staring right at her. She took a deep breath though it was ragged and tried to think where she would be safe- the castle seemed like the only reasonable idea.
The monster in front of her took a step towards her, she responded by taking a step back. This continued until Coralie found herself with her back against a tree, it would be now or never if she wanted to escape. The wolf took another step towards her and Coralie closed her eyes for a split second, before she turned on her heel and began to run as fast as she could towards the castle.
She'd never been an overly fast runner and she certainly wasn't as quick as the wolf but somehow she managed to keep a little in front of it, darting between the trees and jumping over fallen logs that blocked her way. The castle seemed so close but when she looked back, the wolf was closer. She tried to speed up but her legs didn't want to listen to her.
"Not long" she whispered to herself, completely out of breathe. She could feel the wind kissing a cut she'd gotten on her forehead from a branch or something back in the start of the chase but she didn't have time to stop and check it despite the stinging.
She could feel a bit of blood running down her cheek as she slid inside and crashed against the castle wall before she was able to stop herself. Her head impacted with the stone, most likely making it bleed even more than it previously had been but she was still too worried about the wolf that was gaining on her to care. It just made its way into the door when footsteps came their way, Coralie managed to turn her head enough to see who it was- Nathaniel.
He casted a spell towards the wolf that sent in flying backwards and he ran to her side, he tried telling her something but Coralie couldn't hear him or barely see him for that matter. She only managed to weakly smile, or at least she thought she did, before she blacked out.
Authors Note: I know two werewolf attacks in two chapters may seem a little much but I promise you, this does have a point to it, just stick by me! Also, I kind of failed with my Maths so I am actually finishing this novel next Friday rather than Wednesday, ah well!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you Monday with Chapter 53!
Disclaimer: The OC's and part of the plot are all that belong to me. The story title is Taylor Swift's, the few lines of song included are from the Wizard of Oz and everything else belongs to J.K Rowling. Thank you for reading.
"Are they awake yet?" Lily asked solemnly as she made her way into the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey sighed in response and shook her head.
"No, neither of them" Lily frowned and took a seat in between her two friend's beds. It had been two days and neither girl had woken up yet.
Coralie was only suffering from the impact of her head hitting the stone wall while the full severity of Miranda's attack was not yet known. In fact Madam Pomfrey had admitted she wouldn't be able to tell until Miranda woke up and she was able to run some tests, sadly that hadn't happened yet.
"I hope we're not making it too difficult always being in here" Lily added after a moment's thought, the healer shook her head and stopped cleaning to talk.
"It makes it better actually, there's not much I can do for them until they wake up" she paused from a moment, a frown grazing her lips that quickly flooded into her eyes. "Sometimes I think they get better the more visitors they have"
"Then they should wake up in perfect condition" Lily joked. It was true that the two girls were almost never left alone; it was odd seeming they wouldn't know it when they were awake.
"I hope so" Madam Pomfrey said solemnly, going back to cleaning Potions up off her desk. "They are both very sweet girls, neither of them deserve it" Lily nodded in agreement, turning her head slightly to check on Miranda before checking on Coralie.
Neither of them had made any progress lately and it was driving everyone else up the wall with worry. Nathaniel especially, who had barely left Coralie's side for a minute in the past forty eight hours. It was surprising that he wasn't there right now.
"Where's Nathaniel?" Lily asked, standing up to help Madam Pomfrey clean up the Hospital wing, the latter chuckled slightly.
"I had to push the boy out of here, kicking and screaming" Lily grinned at this, she could just imagine the struggle he would have put up to stay in with Coralie. "Told him to go back to his dorm, have a shower and a sleep before he came back otherwise I wouldn't let him in"
"I imagine he'll try and get in without the sleep though" Madam Pomfrey nodded in agreement, taking a Potion from Lily to store away in a cupboard.
"Made me promise he'd be the first to know if Miss Bennett made any progress"
"It's getting to everyone" Lily sighed, brushing hair from her face.
"I would imagine so" Madam Pomfrey frowned, "I still don't believe it was Mr. Lupin that hurt both girls, or either of them for that matter" Lily nodded in agreement, "He's always been a sweet boy even with this terrible problem"
"I don't think it was him either, something doesn't add up about it" Madam Pomfrey shrugged her shoulders and the pair fell into silence before the healer turned to Lily.
"Why doesn't he visit Miss Perry?" Lily sighed.
"He wants to, only Kiki is convinced that he was the attacker- I suppose he doesn't want to think that it could be true"
"I hope for his sake, that she turns out to be wrong" Madam Pomfrey and Lily both nodded in agreement with each other and went back to cleaning up. There wasn't much else they could do until at least one of the girl's woke up.
Wave wand in circular motion and repeat spell.
Angus stared at the words in front of him before he groaned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I hate you Transfiguration" He whispered, slamming his book shut before closing his eyes tightly in frustration.
"I always thought Transfiguration was one of your favourite classes?" Anastasia asked with her usual sweet tone, as she took the empty seat beside him. He looked over at her and sighed.
"Yeah, well now I hate it with every fibre of my being" Angus stated sternly.
"And who am I to question that?" Anastasia giggled. Usually the girl's laughter would make Angus smile widely but today was not one of those days at all. "You're worried about your sister?" she asked and Angus nodded.
"You wouldn't have guessed it but back when we lived in France, she was just a normal girl" Angus paused to let out a loud sigh before continuing on, "I mean the biggest thing she had to worry about was whether the cute boy down the street fancied her or not whether there was a psycho werewolf trying to attack her and her friends"
"Do you regret coming to England?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. Angus knew what the answer should be the one that wouldn't upset the girl in front of him but it didn't feel right. His family would always come before any girl.
"Yes" He answered simply and watched her face fall into a frown; she let the conversation die and went back to her own study leaving Angus to stare moodily at his books.
"You care about her don't you?" She eventually added, turning her head to study him with an odd expression on her face.
"Of course I do" Angus scrunched up his nose at the question, "She's my sister. I care about her and the rest of my family more than anything else in the World, isn't that normal?"
"I've never seen family members actually care about one another" She paused her, frowning slightly at nothing in particular. "It's very odd"
Anastasia went back to her work but Angus could only think about how very odd she was.
Remus shakingly made his way over to an empty table in the library, he felt like everybody was staring at him like they knew what he was and what he did, or could have done- he didn't even remember the difference anymore.
He could see Coralie's little brother sitting at the other end of the library, a short girl who looked eerily familiar almost sitting on his lap. Angus wasn't even looking at him but Remus still got the feeling that he was being glared at.
He glanced around; two people were making their way over to his table- Sarah and Tyler, Coralie's friends. His first thought was that he was going to get screamed at or something similar but the pair of them both wore smiles.
"Tyler, stopping smile like a sociopath- We're trying to be nice not murder him" Sarah whispered furiously, but Tyler ignored her and continued to grin at Remus who just laughed at him in response. "Sorry about him," Sarah said nervously, frowning at her friend who had now started to dance in some odd fashion.
"It's fine" Remus answered, chuckling when Sarah tried to stop Tyler unsuccessfully.
"So, we heard from Kiki" Sarah tried to explain before sighing.
"And you want to know if it's true, well it is" He replied cuttingly, though he felt a sting inside when he watched the girl's face drop.
"Actually, we wanted to say-"
"If I only had a brain" Tyler sung, cutting over Sarah completely. She sent him a glare and whacked him over the back of the head before she continued.
"That, we didn't think you did that" Sarah paused here for a second, "Not Miranda or-"
"The wonderful wizard of 'Oz" Tyler sung again, louder this time so that half the library turned around to glare at him.
"Shut it" Sarah whispered furiously, pushing Tyler in the arm. "As I was saying, Miranda or Coralie. I don't believe you would do that, even as a werewolf"
"I would have hurt anyone who got in my way, even Miranda and Coralie" Remus replied flatly, trying to drown out all the emotion within him.
"I don't believe you" Sarah counter-acted immediately.
"Me neither" Tyler said seriously, Sarah shot him another look to which he shrugged in reply.
"Oh, now you don't sing" She said sarcastically, taking the seat across from Remus and smiling widely at him before pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
"I was never singing" Tyler furrowed his eyebrows, causing Remus to smirk at the two of them. He could understand why Coralie enjoyed spending so much time with them, they were hilarious.
"Tyler-" Sarah started but Tyler cut her off again by turning to Remus and saying clearly,
"Girls these days, eh mate?" Remus had never laughed so hard.
"Heard you were in the library with those two weirdo's today" Sirius stated at dinner and Remus sent him a glare.
"If you mean Sarah and Tyler, then yes I was with them today" James and Peter had now begun to pay attention to the two of them.
"Why?" Sirius asked incredulously. Remus had a feeling that his face was showing all the emotions that he was trying to bundle up inside.
"Because they are actually nice" Remus replied as calmly as he could manage. "You only dislike them because they are friends with Coralie, I don't know what's gotten into you but whatever Coralie did to make you hate her so much, you clearly deserved it"
"I don't hate them because of Bennett-" James pulled a face at this and made to interrupt, no doubt to ask when Coralie had become 'Bennett' but he was cut off. "They are only talking to you because no doubt, they found out"
"So they did, what's the matter?" Sirius sighed here before leaning over the table slightly so that no one else would overhear him.
"They're only paying attention to you because they want to lock you up and test you from the rest of your life" Remus' face scrunched up in anger. "They're Ravenclaws, that's what they do!"
"That's so stereotypical" Remus hissed, he swung his legs over the side of the table and stood up before whispering furiously down at Sirius. "They're being damn right better friends than any of you" He went to storm out of the Great Hall when Lily all but sprinted towards them.
"Coralie's woken up" She whispered, out of breath almost completely. There was no doubt she'd run all the way from the Hospital Wing. Remus and James shared a look before they were both on their feet and were power-walking towards the Hospital Wing, towards answers really.
Peter walked slower, alongside Lily who was still trying to get her breath back while Sirius stayed seated down- he looked down the Gryffindor table and notice the only people he knew that were left were Soho and Millen, he wasn't going to stay with either of them.
"How much do you remember Miss Bennett?" Dumbledore asked worriedly, the Hospital Wing fell silent for a second before Coralie managed to speak up.
"Everything" She answered, her friends shared looks. Madam Pomfrey had warned that she might have suffered from a bit of short term memory loss, they'd all been prepared for it but none of them had thought about this.
"Can you tell us what happened?" McGonagall asked with a soft gaze upon Coralie.
"I was walking with Nathaniel," she looked beside her for a second as Nathaniel smiled softly and nodded at her to continue, "Nate went off to the bathroom and the wolf just appeared, I tried to run but-"
"You tried to out-run a werewolf" Peter whispered, his eyes setting on Coralie with a mixture of admiration and confusion.
"Yes, let's give her a medal for her stupidity" Sirius muttered in response, James kicked his foot.
"I wasn't going to stand there and be killed" Coralie gritted out, glaring furiously at Sirius who ignored her.
"Quite right you are, Miss Bennett" Dumbledore interrupted, urging Coralie to go on.
"I got to the castle and slipped, hit my head and that's when Nathaniel turned up and got rid of the werewolf" At this, Sirius sent a death glare at Nathaniel who gladly returned one.
"You can say it was me Cors," Remus whispered, everyone turned to look at him and then back at Coralie.
"It wasn't though," Coralie replied calmly, "I know it wasn't" She sent him a small smile and reached over to squeeze his hand.
"I believe you then" Dumbledore stated, a twinkling appeared in his eyes.
"Who was it then?" Peter asked but Coralie shrugged her shoulders in response.
"I don't know," she paused, grabbing something out of her pocket before holding it up so everyone could see. "I found this though"
"A necklace?" Lily whispered, her eyebrows furrowing at the gold chain in front of her.
"Yes, one that belonged to the wolf"
Authors Note: And there you go, Chapter 53! I honestly cannot believe I only have two chapters left to post, it's just crazy! Nothing else to say this time around guys so thank you for taking the time to read and I will see you all in Chapter 54!
Disclaimer:The OC's and parts of the plot of this story belong to me. The story title comes from a song of the same time by Taylor Swift and everything else was created by J.K Rowling. Thank you so much for reading!
"You have fifty minutes to complete the exam. You may begin" The moment the examiner's booming voice echoed through the Great Hall, quills began to scratch furiously and then, N.E.W.T's had truly begun.
The Charms exam was the first up. Coralie, Lily, Alice, James, Sarah and Nathaniel were among the roughly twenty students sitting the exam. Much like almost every other subject, the exam had two parts to it- a theory part and then a practical.
The theory was first and was mildly difficult though when Coralie's eyes checked the clock, she could Sarah grin widely at her paper- it was clear that someone knew exactly what she was doing.
Coralie had to bite back a giggle, she couldn't see the examiner's believing her if she told them she'd be laughing about how enthusiastic her classmates were about the exam. It sounded like something James would say, in order to be a little smart. She didn't really want her exam taken away.
The practical was even easier and then, the first exam was over- just like that. One down, seven more to go.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was the next day. It was schedule to run just after the fifth year students had sat their Muggle Studies exam, so Coralie was able to catch Angus as he made his way out.
"How do you think you went?" Angus shrugged his shoulders in response and Coralie just smiled. "I bet you did wonderfully"
"Bonne chance" Angus whispered in reply before disappearing off, most likely to study for the Potions exam that he had the next day.
"Is everyone ready?" Alice asked when Coralie joined the rest of her friends against the wall, some of them sent Alice odd looks and went back to trying to learn the entire of the seventh year class in the span of two or three minutes.
"I bet Miranda would pass if she were here" Kiki commented fiercely, throwing a glare at Remus who stared down at his feet meekly.
Miranda was still unconscious in the Hospital Wing, it had almost been a week since her attack and she was yet to show any signs of improvement. Madam Pomfrey was beginning to worry and Dumbledore, as well as Miranda's parents who had come to visit had agreed that if she was not showing improvement by the end of the week then she would be sent off to St. Mungo's.
Kiki only took this as a reason to treat Remus even worse despite her friends’ demands.
"She would, but she'd been freaking out even more than all of us put together" Lily smiled, trying to break the tension between the two friendship groups- even if, not so long ago they'd all been remarkably closer.
"You disgust me," Kiki stated, disappearing in a crowd of Hufflepuffs.
"Ignore her Remus, she's still touchy on the subject" Coralie explained and Remus shrugged his shoulders.
"I just hope they find out who did it" Mary commented shyly, despite believing that Remus was innocent she still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of being friends with a werewolf though she tried to hide it as best as she could.
"Any leads on that necklace?" Peter asked Coralie and she shook her head solemnly. She had planned on giving the necklace to Dumbledore but he had advised her to send it to Jacob, he had voiced his suspicions that the Ministry wouldn't put it with a high level of importance.
It had taken the necklace longer to get to Jacob; he had been helping Violet as she had moved back to France and into their old home in the past week. But since, he'd been working on it almost every hour of the day; every day of the week was yet to find anything substantial enough.
It was keeping everyone on the edge of their toes.
"You may enter" An examiner, a different one from the one who had been sitting in for their Charms exam declared. "Please enter in an orderly fashion and take your seats"
Before any of the seventh years really knew it, their exams were over and they were practically free. So, of course- they had celebrating accordingly.
The Marauders had gone crazy with pranks, they had charmed the suits of armour to block doorways whenever someone tried to get passed them, toilets had been covered with invisible foil which made a usual trip to the bathroom becoming suddenly a lot more difficult.
They'd been targeting the girls as well, hexing their goblets are breakfast so they poured Pumpkin juice over themselves, charmed little singing cupids to follow them around during the day and swapped their shampoo's around.
They girls had taken it lightly but made sure to get each of the boys back in their own ways. Brooms had been 'beautified' with diamantes, glitter and different colour ribbons. Clothes had been charmed pink and the boys had even woken up covered in honey some mornings which left them all wondering how the girls had done it so quietly while they had been asleep.
The boy's had gotten to each other, as had the girls and so Coralie found one morning that Lily had charmed her pillow in the middle of the night and so she was awoken with a fright the next morning when she rolled into her pillow to find a picture of Nathaniel staring back at her.
Other pranks had not been so nice, the same day as the pillow change-up, Coralie found herself standing at the bottom of the stairs mid-kiss with Nathaniel, drenched in yellow liquid- she had looked up to see Shelena standing there with a now empty bucket.
"That's fish oil," She called down, "You should try to avoid it Cors" And with that, she had disappeared.
On their last night as seventh years, The Marauders organised a mini-party for them in the Common Room. Other year levels joined them but there were no members of other houses, the Marauders had made sure of that.
The party was in full swing within minutes of the music being played, people were dancing all over the place. Lily and James were in the middle of what seemed to be a circle that formed around them by the rest of the seventh years, bar Miranda and Shelena- even Kiki had joined though she stayed close to Mary.
The circle spun around a few times, things were being shouted around it though no one really knew what they were hearing or saying, really.
Coralie could see a camera flash from somewhere outside the circle and watched as James kissed Lily full on the lips, causing the rest of them to go made with screams and claps despite the fact the pair had been together for a short while now.
Even though she was feeling a little dizzy from the spinning, Coralie couldn't help but smile at her friends as she focused on their faces. They all looked so happy, even without Miranda which Coralie knew was at the front of everyone's minds. But she also knew that Miranda would have hated being the cause of a bad time. Maybe that was the reason they kept spinning, just for Miranda.
At some point they must have stopped because Coralie suddenly found herself sitting outside the Portrait Hole with a letter addressed to her in her hand.
She stared down at it, before she leaned up against the wall and let out a deep sigh. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to read what was on the other side of the envelope; Merlin knows she had bad experiences with letters in the past. What if it was just another one of those?
Somehow, Coralie managed to talk herself into it and slipped open the envelope. She was glad to learn it wasn't a letter from Leo, though she was disappointed when she realised it wasn't from Jacob either.
It seemed much more professional and so she, nervously, started to read.
Dear Mademoiselle Bennett,
My name is Cassandra Dubois and I am healer at Saint-Joseph Hôpital pour Maladies et Blessures Magiques. It is with great regret that I must report to you that on March 5th, your dear friend Mademoiselle Emma Melot of a muggle disease called pneumonia which affected her lungs. Mademoiselle Melot spoke of you often and wished for you to come and visit her. A funeral service will be held on the twenty second of July for Mademoiselle Melot, here in France. A representative of the Melot’s will be in contact with you within the next couple of days to discuss the items left to you on Mademoiselle Melot’s last will.
I am deeply sorry for your loss,
Cassandra Dubois
Healer at Saint-Joseph’s.
Coralie let the letter slipping out of her hands and onto the floor, before she wrapped her arms around herself and let out a strangled sob. Wonderful, beautiful Emma. No. Coralie didn’t want to believe a word of it, she couldn’t believe a word of it.
It had to be a joke, some sick joke played by Leo or Shelena or some else but it couldn’t be true. Not Emma, anyone but Emma. She’d always been the one to joke about how the two of them were going to grow up and marry well, have lots of children and then be placed in the same retirement village- talking about the old times and drinking galleons of tea until the day they died together. They had promised each other- they’d used their secret handshake that no one else had ever managed to copy despite how much they tried.
It was Coralie and Emma, Emma and Coralie- best friends and always together until the end. That was all a lie now, they weren’t going to grow old together and watch each other have children and grandchildren- at least not be each other’s side. With a loud sob, she picked the letter back off the floor and stuffed it inside her pocket.
She left the party quickly, dodging between her dancing friends so she could make her way out of the Common Room- she only just made it outside the portrait hole when she collapsed to the floor in tears. She wanted to be able to walk back inside and throw her arms around her friends and tell them what had happened but something stopped her. She wanted them to enjoy their night and they couldn’t do that if they were worrying about her.
“Bennett?” Coralie’s head snapped around at this, standing behind her was Shelena- a blank mask over her face.
“Sorry, I can leave” she whispered, preparing to stand up and go find somewhere else to sit when Shelena sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around her.
“What’s happened?” Shelena asked this with so much worry in her voice that Coralie found herself completely speechless.
“My best friend died” Coralie replied once she finally managed to get her voice back. She could hear Jacob in the back of her mind telling her not to trust Shelena, that it would only end badly but something deep inside Coralie told her otherwise.
“I’m sorry” Shelena answered immediately before the two of them fell silent. Shelena squeezed Coralie’s shoulder slightly as she tried to hold back more tears. “We need to stop this” Coralie frowned at this and turned to stare at Shelena who was looking solemn out at the wall in front of them. “I don’t want to fight anymore”
“What?” Coralie whispered in reply and Shelena turned to stare at her.
“I’m sick of fighting, we aren’t exactly going to find what this stupid curse is going to do to us if we are too busy fighting” Shelena said furiously, glaring at her fingernails which she began to pick at.
“What about our families?” Coralie asked, her eyes widening slightly.
“You mean what about Leo?” Shelena paused her for a moment and bit down on her bottom lip. “I’ll deal with him, besides I’m the one it’s going to hurt not him”
“Okay” Coralie whispered in response as Shelena stood up before offering her hand to Coralie and pulling her up. With a small smile passed between the two of them, they headed back into the Common Room and joined back up with the party.
Authors Note: I just, I don't even have words to explain how excited I am for this Friday. I don't want to give you guys some massive speech sort of thing this chapter because I can always do that next chapter, this is sort of my last proper Authors Note before the end!
Let me know your thoughts of this chapter, who do you think the werewolf is and do you believe Shelena with this whole 'truce' thing? Psycho, that one is!
So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'd like to thank all of you for your support in the last few chapters and for the last time ever on this story, I say to you- I'll see you Friday.
Disclaimer: The OC's and the plot are all that are mine in this story. The story title comes from a song of the same name by Taylor Swift, the poem included is by John Donne and everything else is J.K Rowling's. Thank you for reading.
The dream was there again; or rather it was a memory- though the technicalities didn't matter. The main thing was that it was still plaguing her mind, well if she were to be honest then she'd admit that the nightmare had never really left her in the first place.
Nothing changed during the dream, the werewolf was still there and she was still attacked but the surroundings around her, what she hoped was real seemed to be drifting away.
Miranda wondered if she was dying, sometimes she could her friends talking to Madam Pomfrey and sitting beside her and squeezing her hand and telling her things. Sometimes, she felt like crying.
Coralie told her at some point that she'd been attacked too, but she knew it wasn't Remus. She'd found a necklace and her brother was investigating it. Coralie told her they'd found out who did this to her. Coralie also told Miranda that her best friend, back in France, had died- Coralie had sat by her bed and cried for a while afterwards- She hadn't told anyone else.
Lily told her about James. Told Miranda how lovely he was being to her, said that her father had almost completely recovered. Lily also told her about everyone else, how difficult N.E.W.T's had turned out to be and how much she wished Miranda was there- Everyone had told her that.
Remus came to visit the most often; sometimes he didn't say anything but Miranda could feel his presence. Sometimes he cried, but other times he'd tell her stories. He told her how he became a werewolf, how scared his was when he heard she was attacked, how he was unsure of whether it was him or not- Miranda wanted to be able to squeeze his hand back at telling him, she always knew it wasn't him but she could not find the strength.
Her parents had even come to visit, they'd sat beside her and talked to each other- re-living their favourite memories with Miranda while she lay there perfectly still and remembered for herself. She wanted to be able to laugh with them but once again, she couldn't. She wanted to comfort her mother when she broke into sobs when Dumbledore informed them of his opinion to move her to St. Mungo's.
More than anything though, she wanted to wake up. She would have done anything for that.
She didn't know how many days had passed when she heard James slip in beside her; he didn't talk for a few moments before he finally put the words together.
"It's the last day of school today" He informed her, she had expected him to be excited about the situation but there was an upsetting tone to his voice. "I haven't told anyone else but I'm scared to leave" He paused here for a moment, "I wish you were here, everyone wishes you were here Mir"
In her mind, Miranda knew exactly how to answer James- tell him everything was going to be alright because deep down inside, she knew it would be. He might of laughed at her, her friends had always wondered how she'd been so certain about everything all the time, the secret was that she really wasn't.
She just hoped with every fibre of her being that this last day of Hogwarts for her friends would be perfect, Merlin knew they all deserved it no matter whether she could live it with them or not.
James stood up and turned to leave; Miranda could hear his footsteps fading out of the Hospital Wing and so she whispered to him, "I'm sorry" The footsteps stopped.
"Miranda?" James whispered, his footsteps rushed towards her. "Madam Pomfrey, she said something!" There was a rustling of papers which Miranda imagined was coming from Madam Pomfrey's desk, soon enough, footsteps were making their way to her bed.
"Miss Perry?" she asked and Miranda nodded, when neither of them replied she figured they couldn't see her reacting.
"Yes" she managed to squeak out and James laughed brilliantly as Miranda felt her eyes opening slightly. In front of her, she could make out James decked in his cloaks for the Graduation ceremony that night with the happiest smile on his face she'd seen in a while.
"I'll go get Remus," And with that, James was out of the door before Miranda even had the chance to breathe.
"Let's check you over then" Madam Pomfrey said with a small smile which Miranda tentatively matched.
"I can't believe it's our last day ever at Hogwarts" Alice commented, quickly checking underneath her bed to make sure she hadn't dropped anything.
"It's not that big of a deal" Kiki retorted, she was still mildly angry at all of the girls for believing Remus even when she'd heard from James that Miranda had woken up and had told Dumbledore she knew it wasn't Remus. It left the girls wondering whether there was something else going on but nobody dared to push it.
"Oh stop being such a sour puss" Shelena cut it and Kiki replied with a glare, while Coralie and the other girls were careful about Shelena's new wish for friendship, Kiki had completely rejected the idea and hadn't loosened up even the slightest.
"No one asked for your opinion" Kiki cut back, slamming her trunk shut that vibrated through the entire room before she disappeared down the stairs.
"That girl needs to learn to grow up" Shelena muttered, as she went back to packing away her own things. Nobody responded though Mary felt like she should defend her friend; she didn't want to ruin their last day all together with a disagreement.
"So, where are we all heading?" Marlene asked, breaking the silence.
"Staying at home a bit, Petunia is about to married to that terrible whale- Vernon" Lily answered, scrunching her nose up when she mentioned her soon-to-be brother-in-law.
"Ugh, she's actually marrying that thing" Shelena replied, the girls all nodded in agreement- despite none of them meeting said man they'd heard about enough from Lily to guess as to what sort of person he would be. "Well remember, I'm just around the corner if you need a break" Lily nodded but said no more, it was still slightly weird for her having her old best friend back in her life.
"What about everyone else?" Marlene added.
"I'm staying at home too mainly, starting auror training in a few months with Frank though or rather with Moody," Alice replied cheerfully, "Hopefully I'll be able to see Frank anyway" Marlene grinned in response before Mary started.
"I'm going to move in with Cory actually," Mary let out a small giggle here, "I know it's quick and all but I can't stand staying at home for much longer than a couple of weeks at a time"
"I'm heading back to France," Coralie explained when Alice asked her, "Violet's just moved back there so I've got to go and help her out" She wanted to add that she was going to attend Emma's funeral too but then she would of had to admit that her best friend was gone, she wasn't ready for that yet. "Nate said he might come and visit me"
"Oooh, Cora and Nate in the city of love," Lily teased causing Coralie to blush slightly before chuckling. "What about you Marls?"
"Mainly hanging around at home, Mum wants me to clean out my room or something like that" Marlene rolled her eyes at this, "Such a riveting life, I have"
"Yeah, Marls- you really live life on the edge" Alice chuckled and Marlene poked out her tongue in response. "What about you Shel?"
"Just staying in England for the time being, actually probably forever" Shelena joked slightly.
"Weren't you France last year?" Mary asked, trying to be casual about it though everyone in the room knew why Shelena had been there so there was no real point trying to disguise it.
"Yeah, no offence Cors" She paused for a moment to watch Coralie nod for her to continue, "I didn't really like it much- it just wasn't for me"
"I'm the opposite you see, France will always be home" Coralie sighed, surprising herself as to how much she had sounded like Violet for a moment there.
"Merlin, if Nate loves France just as much then we may never see Cora again" Alice joked, nudging her friend slightly in the side causing her to chuckle.
"I have a feeling Nate will love France for Coralie rather than for any other reason" Marlene commented and the other girls all nodded in agreement. "What about Kiki and Miranda? Anyone know where they are going to be staying?"
"Miranda will be going into care in St Mungo's for a while, just until she gets strong enough to be able to go back home" Lily explained, she'd briefly gone to visit Miranda while the other girls had packed her things up for her.
"Kiki, on the other hand, she'll be staying at home for now" Mary explained but then added, with a sigh, "I doubt she'll stay at home for long though- she'll be out the moment she can"
"I suppose we should all live through Coralie then, she's the only one who seems to be doing anything interesting" Lily teased.
"Yes, helping my older sister settle in" Coralie replied with a teasing manner, "That'll be so interesting" The girls chuckled at her sarcasm.
"We should all catch up in London when Coralie's back, it'll give us all enough time to settle back in" Marlene proposed, the girls all agreed immediately and began to throw dates and times around and places they could meet and get something to eat.
For once, the girls weren't feeling so worried about leaving.
As dinner came that night, every seventh year had packed away their things that they no longer needed and were seating at their house tables waiting for the last meal they would ever have as students of Hogwarts to appear in front of them.
The younger students weren't as punctual as they were, then again some of them had many years before they'd be sitting in the same position as the current seventh years.
The Gryffindors, expect for Miranda who wasn't allowed to be released even for her own graduation dinner (though she still hadn't sat her N.E.W.T'S which she was going to have to sit at a separate time), all sat closely together in roughly the middle of their table.
The girls had begun to shuffle together in case one of them happened to burst into tears and needed comforting. The boys however were cracking jokes; it was their own way of dealing with what was happening.
"Welcome students of Hogwarts to our final feast for the year." Dumbledore started, he made to continue but the Marauders cut him off with their cheering. "Yes, thank you Mr Potter, Mr Black, Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew" Sirius and James both sent him salutes in response before they let him continue on. "First of all, let us eat!" At that, the four tables all filled with food and the seventh years made a dash to fit everything they possibly could onto their plates.
"I swear, by the end of this meal I'm going to need an entire carriage to myself on the train tomorrow" James explained, shoving yet another chicken leg into his mouth.
"Mate, you'll need two" Sirius started, "One for your body and the second for your unreasonably big ego" The girls all laughed at this, as did the other boys and a few surrounding people in lower years. Sirius sent a wink to Coralie which she tried to ignore but instead decided to reply with a small smile, she didn't want to horrible to Sirius forever.
"Which means what?" James replied, "You'll need the entire train for yours?" This caused the group to once again laugh before they went back to their food; they were all to determined to remember the taste of this food in their mouths to even start a proper conversation.
Once the last of the desserts were cleaned up, which took a little longer than usual as Tyler over at the Ravenclaw table tried to hold on to his plate, Dumbledore stood up again. "I would like to first of all say a big congratulations to our seventh years for making it through this year even at the darkest and most difficult times" The hall interrupted into furiously clapping which eventually died out when Dumbledore went to speak again. "And now, we shall present the House Cup to the house who gathered the most point throughout the year" The Hall fell silent within seconds as everyone waited with anticipation. "In fourth place with three hundred and seventy nine points, is Hufflepuff!" There was mild clapping in the hall, though it was slightly louder at the Hufflepuff table. "At third place, with four hundred and twelve points, is Slytherin!" Not many people clapped at all, and the Slytherins seemed to send glares at anyone who so much as moved. "It was a close one between the two remain houses," Dumbledore paused as if to let the tension build up even more. "In second place with four hundred and thirty one points...is Ravenclaw! Making Gryffindor first with four hundred and forty three points!"
The Gryffindor table went mad, James had almost jumped over the table to throw his arms around Sirius with happiness but Lily had pulled him down before he embarrassed himself, and her, too much.
"I can't believe we won!" Peter commented as they made their way out of the Great Hall for the last time.
"Come on, we better go tell Miranda the awesome news" Marlene stated, and so they all made their way up to the Hospital Wing, promising Madam Pomfrey as they shuffled in that they wouldn't make too much noise.
"She's still unwell, remember!"
"What happened?" Miranda asked excitedly as she noticed them all. She was sitting up in bed and despite still looking unusually pale, she definitely looked better.
"WE WON!" James yelled and everyone went crazy again, this time including Miranda who yelled louder than almost all of them together.
"Miss Perry! This is not a party, it's a Hospital Wing" Madam Pomfrey scolded though she wore a small smile on her lips. "Now go on you lot, you've all been here enough the last couple of days- It's about time I got a break" The Gryffindors agreed, despite not wanting to leave Miranda, they still continued on in high spirits.
The next morning, the seventh years were somehow able to roll out of bed and make their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without having to rush around like mad-men, at least not for very long.
After breakfast, which passed in a comfortable silence at the Gryffindor table, everyone made their way down to the platform. The Gryffindor seventh years stayed together, though Nathaniel, Sarah and Tyler joined them all.
"Is everyone ready to say goodbye?" Sarah asked, as they neared the gates.
"That's like asking if anyone is willing to let the last muffin on Earth go to someone else" Tyler answered before anyone else got the chance.
"What the hell is wrong with your logic?" Sarah turned to Tyler as the entire group slowed down.
"I, for one, like his logic" James stated, chuckling at Tyler who sent Sarah a smirk.
"Don't say another word," Sarah whispered, "He'll never shut up otherwise" The group laughed at this as they turned back to take one last look at Hogwarts.
"I never realised how much I was actually going to miss it here" Nathaniel frowned, hugging Coralie to his side.
"We had some good times here, for sure" Marlene added, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. They all fell into silence, waiting for something that would make leaving seem less final. Who knew where their lives would lead them from here?
"Come on then" Alice sighed, and everyone managed to pull their eyes away from the castle and head towards the platform, though they all did this with a certain sad look in their eyes.
Once they bordered the train, they set off to find a compartment or rather two next to each other so they'd be able to all fit and still be able to move between said compartments if they so pleased.
Coralie managed to squeeze into a compartment with Nathaniel, Sarah, Tyler, Shelena, Alice and Marlene. While everyone else occupied the second compartment.
"You ready to leave?" Nathaniel whispered to Coralie. She shook her head softly and he sighed in agreement, squishing himself against the window enough so that Coralie could rest her head or his shoulder for almost the rest of the journey. "I'm not ready yet either" he whispered once everyone else had begun their conversations.
"We'll be fine out there, right?" Coralie asked, half-asleep. Nathaniel didn't reply instantly but instead, kissed her head softly before finally whispering to her.
"We'll be amazing" At this, Coralie closed her eyes and managed to doze off for a little while- at least until she was awoken by Tyler- not that she really expected any less.
"Cruell and sodaine, has thou since, Purpled thy naile, in blood of innocence?" Tyler recited as Coralie finally came around, upon noticing she was awake- Nathaniel squeezed her side softly and looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Any idea what he's going on about?" He whispered and Coralie chuckled.
"He's reciting poetry, he does it often" She explained while Nathaniel shook his head and the other boy.
"In what could this flea guilty bee," Sarah continued with a grin before she let out a loud laugh which Tyler joined in on.
"What was that?" Marlene asked with a look that said she was worrying about the two Ravenclaw's sanity or rather lack of. Coralie had to remind herself that her other friends didn't spend nearly as much time with Nathaniel, Sarah and Tyler as she did and therefore weren't used to the odd things they sometimes did.
"Oh, just a poet we really like" Sarah responded, a grin widely spread across her face. Marlene didn't grant either of them with a response, deciding that she would probably never understand the two of them and went back to reading a magazine.
"Cors, can you help me find the trolley lady?" Shelena asked a few minutes later, Nathaniel instantly sent her a look that explained everything he was feeling. She hadn't gotten the time to tell him about everything that had happened; therefore it was reasonable that he was confused.
"Yeah, sure" Coralie agreed, sending a Nathaniel a look in response that told him she was explain when she got back.
"I thought Millen was her arch enemy" Tyler commented when the door slid shut behind them.
"Once upon a time, you said I was your arch enemy and look how we turned out" Nathaniel replied teasingly, Tyler however ignored his tone.
"Oh please, You're still my arch enemy" Sarah could only laughing hysterically in response.
"He really likes you" Shelena commented after the two of them had passed a few compartments. Coralie had figured out that they were not in fact searching for the trolley lady as she was going in the opposite direction to them.
"Who?" Coralie answered, she figured it was a stupid answer by the fact that Shelena turned around to glare at her- some habits die harder, apparently.
"Nate, of course" Coralie made an 'oh' sound and nodded in reply before the two of them continued in silence.
"What did you actually want to talk about?" Coralie asked, the second girl didn't respond for a while.
"I wanted to find an empty compartment first" Shelena explained as she slid a door open and stepped in, Coralie followed in afterwards. "I thought this might be a good time to talk about the curse you know, since you're heading off to France next week and you'll be gone for a while- we can't really delay it otherwise we'll never find anything out"
"Okay, what do you want to say then?" Coralie asked with a nervous expression on her face. She had really been ignoring the curse, it hadn't seemed too played up yet and so she was secretly hoping it was just some old wives tales- she knew that wouldn't really be the case though.
"How much have you found out?" Shelena questioned and Coralie furrowed her brows slightly.
"Not much really, only that the original curse maker on my side- her daughter's daughter was the first one to suffer from the curse" Shelena nodded slowly but then sighed. Somehow Coralie realised that Shelena knew she wasn't telling the whole truth but Coralie wasn't about to give up everything she knew to Shelena.
"We figured out similar things for our side of the family, nothing that really helps us though" Coralie twisted the side of her mouth slightly in response. "I wish we knew more though"
"We'll find out more as we go along" Shelena sighed.
"Yeah, I suppose so" They both fell silent for a moment as a bunch of giggly second year girls passed their compartment. "Thank you for forgiving me, I'm sorry I've been so horrible to you this year" She paused. "I was just jealous about Sirius and all."
"You don't have to be jealous" Coralie frowned slightly, "I'm not with him"
"Yeah, that was my fault" Shelena admitted, "I made him angry which caused him to break up with you" Coralie shrugged her shoulders in response, but Shelena hadn't finished speaking. "I wish I hadn't, he really fancied you- he still does."
"It doesn't matter" Coralie's voice raised slightly but she tried to remain calm, a part inside of her, which was seemed to remind her a little too much of Jacob at times, told her not to trust Shelena still- she couldn't even she had wanted to. But something didn't seem quite right. "I'm with Nate" Coralie added.
"Yeah, course" Coralie watched the girl in front of her for a minute before she stood up and made her way back to the compartment, unknowingly passing the compartment with Angus inside on her way.
Had she noticed and turned around, she would have seen the brunette girl that was with him- the one that was most definitely not Azure. She probably also would have noticed how serious the conversation they seemed to be having was, but she didn't as she was still wrapped up with the things Shelena had said.
Shelena, on the other hand, noticed and a small smirk graced her lips for a moment before she shook it off.
Angus had made his way onto the train with his group of friends- Ryan, Matthew, Nellie, Briony and Azure before he'd gone off to find Anastasia. He knew his friends weren't particularly keen on the girl in question, he understood that there was something about her that made them wary but Angus sure this as part of her charm.
For some reason, Angus almost found it easy to talk to Anastasia whom he knew basically nothing about then his own friends which he knew almost everything. There was something about her that made it okay for Angus to keep his own secrets, it was a nice change.
"Where will you be this summer?" Anastasia asked, with the usual the smile on her face that made Angus crazy.
"Just home here in England, at least that's the plan- my family has the tenancy to change their minds" Angus chuckled slightly and Anastasia quickly joined in. "What about you?"
"Same really, we don't really go anywhere, ever. I suppose we're kind of the opposite of you" Anastasia shrugged her shoulders slightly.
"One day, we ought to swap for a week or so," She nodded in agreement, "I'm sick of moving around all the time"
"And I'm sick of staying here" She added, "Smart swap, really"
"So it is" Angus agreed, messing up his hair slightly like he'd seen James do- he wanted to laugh at himself for how ridiculous he probably looked.
"What about the rest of your family?" Angus sighed slightly.
"Well, I told you that my older sister moved back to France so Cora's going over to help her settle in and all" Anastasia nodded.
"Sounds like fun," Angus chuckled slightly at this, "Hey, I saw your sister with that Millen girl before- I thought they hated each other"
"So did I, but apparently not" Angus frowned a little but did not voice the confusion that he was feeling towards his sister. He doubted whether he'd truly ever understand her, or anyone of the same gender- they were all so confusing!
Even the girl sitting in front of him who had taken to starting what seemed like a deep conversation, had been confusing the hell out of him for months now. He wanted to ask what the hell they were but somehow he knew he'd never find the confidence to ask, at least not in this lifetime.
Angus tried to tune himself back into what she was saying but there was something bugging him in the back of his mind and so instead, he took to just nodding and smiling whenever it seemed appropriate- luckily for him it seemed to be working, Merlin knows what would happen if she asked him a question at some point.
Back in Coralie's compartment, they had taken to play Charades or rather Tyler had begun an interpretive dance in the middle and the rest of them were throwing guessing as to what he was doing.
"Giving birth!" Nathaniel yelled at one point causing all the girls to break into fits of laughter, Tyler only set Nathaniel a look which told him to shut up- that however did not last very long at all.
"Are you a ballerina?" Coralie shouted at which point Tyler stop and turned to look at her.
"Do I look like a ballerina?" Tyler asked, his head bobbing slightly.
"Well, actually" Sarah started but Tyler ignored her and went back to waving his arms around like a lunatic.
"Got any ideas ladies?" Nathaniel whispered to Coralie and Sarah who just sent him 'are you kidding?' looks.
"Oh, just give up already" Tyler eventually sighed, "None of you will get it!"
"What were you then?" Marlene asked, raising her eyebrows slightly at him.
"I was Coralie when Gryffindor won the House Cup last night" He answered casually before taking his seat, Nathaniel instantly burst into laughter.
"You know what, he's right" Nathaniel added at which point Coralie sent him a glare.
"Someone sounds like their upset that we beat them" Coralie teased, poking Nathaniel in the arm lightly. The compartment fell back into silence until the train drew to a stop and people began to shuffle out, Coralie hung back with Nathaniel while he tried to pull both their trunks along though they kept tipping to the side on him. Eventually, once they were on the platform- he handed her the trunk and bent down to kiss her.
"I'll miss you" He whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him closely.
"I'll miss you more" She replied, before heading over to Angus and Jacob who had been waiting for her. Shelena watched from the side, a malicious grin filling her face before she turned on her heel and headed for the gateway back onto the muggle platform.
A pair of footsteps fell in step with her, though she didn't need to look up to see who it was. "I've got the information sister" The voice told her, a smirk was present in the tone. This only made Shelena smirk wider.
"Nice one" She paused for a moment, "Now come on, Anastasia"
Authors Note: Now, who saw that coming? (Even if you did, be nice and lie so I can feel intelligent- Kidding!) Anyway, there you all are- the end of Tied Together With a Smile though it's not the end of the story of Coralie Bennett.
I have previously mentioned that a sequel will be posted on May 4th, of this year so look out for that then.
Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone who read, reviewed or favourited this story and if you haven't- remember that you still can! You have all been brilliant to me and I don't know how far I would have gotten without you! So thank you!
Now, before I get to emotional- I better go start on that sequel! See you guys then :)
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