Image by viktor & rolf @TDA
In the dream I was running through a forest. It was night-time, and so dark I couldn’t see even a foot in front of me.
I was scared. Fear cramped my chest, filled me up so that it hurt.
Was I running after something…or from something? I had no idea. All I knew was that danger lurked in these woods and I had to get out as soon as possible.
I suddenly tripped on a fallen log, and face planted into the solid earth beneath me. My jeans tore and I looked down-even in the darkness I could see scarlet blood spurting from me knee.
“Hello?” I called out loudly-and foolishly. “Is anyone there?”
For a moment there was only silence and I was perfectly still, not even daring to breathe. My heart was thumping so hard in my chest, it felt like it was about to burst out.
Then suddenly, a dark figure erupted from the near by trees and with a scream, I awoke.
Someone was shaking me roughly.
Still panting heavily from the nightmare I opened my eyes, and looked around the room, as though expecting to see the dark figure from my dream appear from behind the curtains.
Rose was sitting on the edge of my bed looking down at me nervously. Her face was very pale, making her red hair look shockingly bright. “Are you okay, Izzy?” she whispered, as though I were on my deathbed.
I pushed a lock of sweaty hair back from my face. “Fine,” I said, although I was still jumpy and my hands were shaking slightly. “I just had a nightmare, that’s all.”
“You were thrashing around and murmuring in your sleep for about a minute before I was able to wake you,” Rose said, biting her lip. “Do you…do you want me to call mum?”
I forced myself to sit up in bed. “No, of course not,” I scoffed. “I can look after myself, Rose.”
She sighed and looked down at the bed, thoroughly unconvinced.
“Don’t worry about it,” I assured her firmly, and something suddenly dawned on me. “Hey!” I said, and I felt my face split into a grin. “It’s our birthday!”
Rose watched me uncertainly as I leaped out of bed-she clearly thought I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. “What are you doing?” she asked me sceptically.
“I’m seventeen, Rose!” I laughed. “Now-where’s my wand?”
“You really should take better care of your things,” Rose pointed out as I got on my hands and knees to look under the bed for that accursed wand.
“Pfft!” I said. “Nonsense! I take perfectly good care of my things, thank you. Hang on, I might have left my wand in the kitchen.” I paused thoughtfully, mulling this possibility over.
“Since when do you look after your things? Professor Flitwick doesn’t even trust you to hand out the textbooks.”
She has a point, actually.
When I was thirteen, Rose, Louis and Albus gave me a goldfish for my birthday. I named him Mr Bubbles (shut up-thirteen year old Isabella wasn’t very creative) and put him in a large flower vase filled to the top with water. Unfortunately, the next day when I woke up I was super thirsty and, well, I saw the vase sitting next to my bed, forgot it had Mr Bubbles in it and drank it.
It still puzzles me, to this day, how I didn’t notice I was swallowing a goldfish.
Another time, a couple of years back, I’d completed a potions essay on the properties of the Moonstone all by myself, without even cheating on Rose. Not that I ever cheat on Rose, of course. Ahem. Anyway, it was two whole scrolls of parchment and I was super proud of my work. For some reason, however, I decided to leave it on the floor and the next day when I went to hand it in…well, Rose’s owl had eaten it. The little bugger.
And then there was that memorable incident in potions last year (though not quite as memorable as the blowing-up-the-classroom incident) when I thought it would be fun to see what would happen if I added a frogs brain to my Swelling Solution. Well…you can guess what happened. The incident resulted in me blowing up my fifth cauldron-that year. Old Sluggy wasn’t too impressed with me. In fact, I think his exact words were; “Miss Grace, I am not impressed with you.” But I wasn’t fooled. I know Sluggy has a soft spot for me-er…
very deep down.
He’s not going to be happy when he realises I’m taking potions this year, as well.
Only Merlin knows how I passed my potions exam last year, considering I turned the examiner into a rat.
“Ah, here it is,” I said, pulling my wand out from a draw in my dressing table, and pointing it in the direction of the guest bathroom.
“Here we go,” muttered Rose.
“Accio hairbrush!” I said loudly, just to demonstrate that I could now, as an ‘of age’ witch, do magic outside of school.
It was very satisfactory to see my hairbrush zooming towards me from the bathroom…at least until it hit me in the forehead, that is.
“Ouch!” I muttered, rubbing my now sore head, snatching up the hairbrush and glaring at it.
Rose laughed-what a good friend she is-and passed me a rectangular wrapped parcel. “Happy birthday, Iz,” she said, and I put down the hairbrush at once to tear the wrappings off my present.
Rose is the type of person that likes giving presents, rather than receiving. Me…I like being given stuff. So, I guess we balance each other out in that respect.
“Do you like it?” Rose asked eagerly, as I ripped the last of the paper off to reveal a thick, leather brown book.
I stared at it in disgust. “Seriously, Rose? You gave me a
book? You know I hate reading!”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Ungrateful little sod, aren’t you? Open it, you idiot.”
Frowning sceptically, I opened the heavy book. The title on the first page read: ‘
How to pretend you are listening in class when really you are daydreaming and wishing you were anywhere else.’
I grinned up at Rose. “You know me so well,” I said, tossing her my present-a large box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. Yeah, I’m not too creative when it comes to gift-giving. I’m also broke, so I can’t afford to go giving big, flashy expensive things. Fortunately, Rose understands.
“Happy birthday girls!”
Mrs Weasley had appeared at the doorway, holding a stack of presents and a digital camera of Muggle make.
“Thanks mum!” beamed Rose, as her mother handed her a large stash of presents. I watched enviously as she unwrapped them one by one, carefully tearing the paper so that it wouldn’t rip. I watched as she unwrapped a handsome wizard’s chess set, a set of complicated books about Arithmancy, a golden locket and a large box of Honeydukes caramel fudge.
I wonder if Pauline would’ve given me a birthday present, had a stuck around.
Somehow, I don’t think so.
“And we didn’t forget you Isabella, so don’t you worry,” Mrs Weasley smileed, and to my surprise, she handed me a small parcel wrapped in purple paper.
I looked up at her, confused. “I-I can’t accept this,” I said firmly, handing it back. “I…”
“Don’t be silly,” said Mrs Weasley, and I grudgingly opened the package to reveal a golden locket, just like the one Rose had opened.
Mrs Weasley smiled at me. “It’s traditional to give a witch a golden locket when they come of age,” she said gently, as Rose helped fasten it around my neck,
For some, annoyingly inconvenient reason, I felt tears pricking at the back of my eyes. No-one, not a single one of my foster families, had ever given me a gift before. Not unless you count the time my older foster brother put maple syrup in my shampoo bottle.
“Thanks, Mrs Weasley,” I said in an oddly choked voice.
She beamed, then held up the Muggle camera she had been holding. “Alright girls,” she said, and Rose groaned. “It’s time for a photo to celebrate this most important day!”
“Seriously mum!” Rose said, rolling her eyes at me.
She really does that a lot. Rolling her eyes, I mean.
“Of course!” said Mrs Weasley. “Say ‘abracadabra’!”
I grinned over at my best friend and we linked arms, smiling up at the camera. “Abracadabra!” we chorused, and the camera flashed.
Maybe this birthday wouldn’t turn out to be so bad, after all.
***
“THIS IS THE WORST BIRTHDAY OF MY LIFE!” I slurred, tripping over someone’s crumpled form as I stumbled over to Rose, a cup of Firewhiskey in my hand.
It was almost midnight, we were at the Burrow and it seemed like five hundred people had turned up to our birthday. I’m guessing I only knew one twentieth of them.
Rose gently prised my cup from my hand. “How much have you had to drink tonight, Izzy?” she asked.
I snorted loudly. One of the girls who were standing near us gave me a look of disgust. “What?” I said loudly, and Rose cringed. “There’s nothing wrong with snorting, bitch!”
“Izzy…” Rose groaned.
The girl put her nose in the air and started to walk away. “Yeah, that’s right!” I shouted after her retreating figure. “You don’t mess with Isabella Grace! And pull your skirt down-we don’t all want to see your knickers!”
“
I want to see some knickers!”
I turned to see Louis standing next to Rose, grinning down at me.
Louis is one of the few guys I know who is actually taller than me. I am super self-conscious about my height. I tower over almost every guy I meet. Sometimes I wonder whether one of my parents was a iant.
“I see someone’s had a few too many Firewhiskeys,” commented Louis’ best friend, Jeremy Johnson, with a grin on his face.
I glared at him. “I am not even drunk! My tolerance level is way up there!” I stood on my tiptoes and pointed up to the sky, stumbling against a table of drinks and falling to the ground as I did so.
Great way too prove your not drunk, Isabella. Real nice going.
“Need some help there?” Jeremy asked, grinning down at me and offering a hand. I scowled at him, smacked his hand away and got to my feet myself. It took a lot of effort.
I’ve known Jeremy Johnson since our first year at Hogwarts, but I didn’t really start hanging around with him until last year. He is the most positive person you will ever meet-I swear he never stops smiling and is always sickeningly nice to everyone. Unlike most people, he doesn’t even lose his temper at
me-not even when I scream at him and attempt to curse his brains out. Like me, he is also very accident prone-though this is because he displays unnerving enthusiasm for everything.
“Give me my drink!” I said loudly, trying to grab it off Rose, who handed it to Louis, who held it above his head so that I could not reach it.
Git.
“So: how’s seventeen Izzy?” Jeremy asked me, putting a hand around my waist as I probably looked like I was about to fall over again.
“I HATE YOU!” I said loudly, but Jeremy just grinned and ruffled up my hair.
“Aw, that’s sweet. I love you too, Izzykins.”
“Great party, Rose!” a blonde haired girl wearing a very short dress said as she walked past us.
Rose frowned at Louis. “Who is that again?”
“Anita Simmons,” Louis said promptly. “Ravenclaw. Sixth year. I went out with her last year for an approximate time of…two hours.”
“Why do girls these days where their skirts so short?” I asked loudly and Rose, Louis and Jeremy all turned to stare at me. “It’s disgusting!”
“Okay Izzy,” said Rose firmly, taking me by the shoulders and attempting to direct me towards the nearest seat. “I think you need to…”
“I DO NOT NEED TO SIT DOWN!” I said loudly, ducking away from her and running into the crowd.
“Izzy!” I heard Rose calling. “IZZY! Come back!”
I giggled (yes people-I
giggled) and continued to bound away from her. Drunk Isabella is a strange character. She’s a mixture of overly happy and unpleasantly angry.
“Hey Isabella!”
I looked up to see that I had walked straight into Cameron Ryan-my sort of boyfriend from last year. Even in my drunken state, I could tell that he looked hot. Like, beyond hot. Hotter than an apple pie that’s just come out of an oven. Even hotter than the water in Rose’s spa pool. Hotter than…
Shut up, brain. I tend to ramble when I’m drunk.
Actually, I tend to ramble all the time, but what the heck.
“Great party,” said Cameron, grinning up at me.
Yes, he was shorter than me. A fact I was very insecure about. In fact, it was part of the reason I dumped him. Not that we were really going out in the first place, just snogging behind the greenhouses…
“Thanks,” I slurred, battering my eyelashes in what I hoped was a sexy manner. I’m not very good with the whole ‘sexy’ thing.
There was this memorable time in potions last year when I was trying to impress Cameron (this was before we were sort of dating) so I started tossing my hair in a sexy, ‘I want you to notice me’ sort of way. Unfortunately, my hair is very long, and I accidentally flicked it right into the fire underneath my cauldron. It wasn’t until this burning smell filled the classroom and Rose began to scream that I realised what was going on. I shrieked and began to flap my arms about wildly and tried to pull my singed hair out of the fire. Well, chaos ensued. In all the panic, I somehow managed to tip my cauldron over. The hot potion landed all over Rose’s legs and these massive, pus filled boils started popping up all over her. She had to be taken to the hospital wing and I was given detention for a week. What was even worse was, at dinner that night, I hear Cameron talking to his mates about the stupid girl in potions who had managed to burn half her hair off. It was humiliating.
I saw Cameron’s eyes wandering up and down my body-I was wearing the purple dress Louis and Rose had made me buy from Gideon’s Glitz and Glamour-which happened to reveal rather a lot of thigh, back and cleavage. I crossed my arms over my chest awkwardly.
“You look hot tonight,” Cameron commented.
“Erm…thanks?”
Cameron took a step closer to me, and I felt a tiny shiver go up my neck. “Don’t you remember all the fun we had last year?” he murmured into my ear. “All that time we spent behind the greenhouses?”
“Er…”
“We could start again,” he murmured, and I realised his breath smelt very badly of onions. “Right here, right now. While everyone’s looking the other way…”
I suddenly found myself pushing him away. “Dude,” I said loudly, and a look of surprise flitted across his face. “Do you have onions on your pizza or something?”
“Um…”
I shook my head in disgust. My mind was starting to feel a bit cloudy, and I suddenly wished I hadn’t had that last Firewhiskey. “You really need to brush your teeth,” I said, and Cameron’s look of surprise turned to annoyance. “And if I were you, I’d consider investing in a large bottle of mouthwash.”
Cameron curled his fists up in anger. “Now I remember why I dumped you,” he growled. “You’re a right fucking bitch.”
This comment didn’t hurt me at all. It probably would’ve done, usually. But I was too wasted to care. Instead, I laughed. “Oh, Cammy,” I said happily. “Don’t forget, it was
I who dumped
you.”
And laughing at the furious look at Cameron’s face I marched away.
It was all rather impressive until I tripped and fell right into a very tall figure who pushed me away in disgust. For the second time that night, I found myself staring at the ground, choking up dirt.
“Izzy!”
Good old Rose pushed her way through the crowd and helped me to me feet. She was as sober as a naked mole rat-had probably only had butterbeer to drink all night.
I giggled stupidly as Rose brushed dirt out of my hair. “It looks like your head is on fire,” I giggled as Rose leant me her weight to support me. “Like in oooone second your whole head will go BOOM!”
“That’s great, Iz,” Rose sighed. “Look, Nana’s about to bring out the cake, why don’t we…”
“Is she alright?” a voice I didn’t immediately recognise asked. I couldn’t see who it was, either-I’d closed my eyes because all the blurry figures in front of me were giving me a headache.
“She’s fine,” said Rose, suddenly sounding stiff and awkward. “She’s just drunk.”
The unknown person sniggered. “What a lightweight.”
I suddenly snapped my eyes open, recognising the horrible snigger.
Sure enough, standing right in front of me, his hands in his pockets, was Scorpius Malfoy.
“
Malfoy!” I hissed, attempting to lunge for him. To my annoyance, Rose held me back.
Malfoy smirked. “Nice party, Grace,” he said. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“
I didn’t invite you!” I snarled, making another attempt to lunge at him, however my shaky muscles were no match for Rose’s sober ones.
“What are you doing here, Scorpius?” Rose asked, in a voice of forced calm.
“Scorpius?” I snapped at her. “
Scorpius? Since when have you two been on a first name basis?”
“I came here to see you, Rosie,” Malfoy said, stepping towards us. I continued trying to fight my way out of Rose’s grip. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“NO SHE BLOODY WELL ISN’T!” I shouted loudly, and Rose wrapped her arms more tightly around me. Bitch. Why am I even friends with her? “YOU’RE A FUCKING SLIMY GIT, MALFOY, I HATE YOU!”
“See, the thing is Grace, I don’t really care what you think about me,” Malfoy drawled, and I felt another flare of rage.
God, he was such a prick. What gave him the right to crash our birthday party?
“AAAAARGH!” I shouted, now trying to prise Rose’s fingers from my arm.
“Izzy, calm down,” she said gently. “Scorpius isn’t doing any harm, he can…”
“DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME YOU’VE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH FUCKING MALFOY!” I shouted.
“Seems quite unstable, that one,” Malfoy commented, flicking a speck of dirt from his v-neck t-shirt. “Rose, you should consider having her admitted to a mental hospital…”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence. I had had enough. I forced my way out of Rose’s arms and threw myself at Malfoy, knocking him to the ground-which I definitely would not have been able to do if I didn’t have the element of surprise.
“What the…?” he gasped but at that moment, I started punching the shit out of him.
It was rather satisfying.
“ISABELLA!” Rose screamed. “ISABELLA! GET OFF HIM! YOU’RE DRUNK, YOU’RE NOT THINKING CLEARLY!”
“Oh I’m thinking clearly alright,” I said loudly, aiming another punch at Malfoy’s jaw.
To my horror he caught my hand before it could make contact with his face. Then, before I could react, he pulled himself slightly off the ground and with his free hand, took me by the neck, turned me over and slammed me to the ground.
My head made contact with a loud CRACK and I felt my eyes watering.
Now Malfoy was looming over me, his face inches from mine, strapping my legs and arms to the ground so that it was impossible for me to get up.
I forced myself to stare indignantly into Malfoy’s pale grey eyes.
All around us, I could hear that people had realised what was going on-there were gasps from the crowd and Rose was still shouting.
“I’d watch your back if I were you, Grace,” Malfoy murmured into my ear and a horrible shiver went up my spine-quite different from when I had been talking to Cameron earlier. Unlike Cameron, Malfoy’s voice was not seductive. It was dangerous, and full of venom. “I’m stronger than you-and much more powerful. Don’t get on my bad side.”
If I had been sober, I wouldn’t have replied.
No, that’s a lie.
If I had been sober, not had the need to always be right and not had the temper of an angry Spanish bull I wouldn’t have replied.
But I wasn’t sober, I felt the need to be right and I had the temper of an angry Spanish bull.
So I replied.
I smirked up at Malfoy, staring into those grey eyes of his, and putting all the hate I could into my own chocolate brown ones. “You don’t want me to get on your bad side?” I whispered. “Then maybe you should show me your good one.”
Then I, being the idiotic, stupid, insane, crazy, mental, dumb, retarded person that I am, spat in his face.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes until they were slits. “You’ll pay for that one, Grace,” he hissed, and raised his fist.
Oh god. He was going to beat me to a pulp.
I was an idiot for thinking I could take on Malfoy single handed. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see him as he delivered the fatal blow.
But then suddenly, Malfoy’s weight was gone from my body.
I opened one eye and saw that he was no longer on top of me (don’t your dare interpret that the wrong way) but was instead being punched repetitively in the face by Louis, while being held to the ground by a determined looking Jeremy.
Well, I knew they had to be good for something.
I got grudgingly to my feet-everywhere hurt and my brain felt like it was about to explode.
“Stop it Louis!” I heard Rose screaming, as if from a great distance. “Stop it, you’re hurting him!”
“That’s the idea, cuz,” Louis’s voice rang in my ears. “This piece of vermin needs to learn that it’s not okay to assault our friends…”
There was a ringing sound in my ears. Panting, I closed to my eyes, just as my shaking legs gave way and I fell to my knees.
“Hey!” someone said, a girl. “I think she needs some help over here!”
I wondered if she was talking about me.
The last thought I had before tumbling to the ground was a stab of annoyance that I was probably going to miss the birthday cake.
Then I blacked out.
***
Someone was slapping my face.
What a dick.
I groaned and my head rolled onto my shoulder.
I was sitting, slumped, against something very hard and uncomfortable.
“Do you think I should get a bucket of cold water?” I heard someone-Louis-asking anxiously.
“What for?”
“To tip over her head. It might wake her up.”
My eyes flew open at once and I saw that I was propped up against a bathtub, with Louis, Rose and Jeremy all crowded around me. “Don’t you dare,” I said sharply. “I’ve got my wand at the ready..”
I fumbled around, looking for my wand and was annoyed to find it wasn’t there.
“Looking for this?” Rose asked, holding up my wand.
I snatched it off her. It took a lot of energy.
Rose was peering down at me as though I had a severe case of dragon pox. “How are you feeling, Izzy?” she asked gently, placing her hand on my forehead.
I gave her a look. “How do you think I’m feeling?” I snapped. My words were coming out slowly and my voice was hoarse. “My head’s pounding, I’ve got bruises all over my body, I missed my birthday cake and not too long ago, Scorpius fucking Malfoy was sitting on top of me.”
Louis chuckled. “Yeah, Jeremy and I thought the two of you were getting it on,” he said, thrusting his pelvis back and forwards.
I glared at him. “That’s sick.”
“Well, I’ve got something that might make you feel a bit better,” said Rose, choosing to ignore the comment about Malfoy sitting on top of me.
“What?” I grumbled, severely doubting there was anything in this world that could make me feel better right now.
Rose smiled serenely and handed me a large slab of chocolate cake. I eyed it greedily. “It’s all that’s left,” she said. “After Nana brought it out, well…”
“There was an awesome food fight!” Jeremy said eagerly. “I got old Malfoy right in the eye…it was epic!”
I fired up at once. “Oh, so Malfoy still didn’t leave after the two of you almost killed him, did he?” I asked angrily.
“Unfortunately not,” sighed Louis. “But after Jeremy got him with a great slab of cake, he packed a sulk and stormed off home. Wanker,” he added, sniggering under his breath.
Rose shot him a glare. “He is
not a wanker, Louis,” she said firmly, which made Louis snigger even more. She looked around at us all, looking seriously fed up. “I wish you lot would just give him all a chance! He’s really nice if you’d just…just get to know him!”
We all looked at Rose in horror. The usual smile had slipped from Jeremy’s face. “What do you mean, get to know him?” he asked hoarsely.
“I think I know what’s going on here!” I said loudly. “Our dear Rosebud has been meeting up with Malfoy all over Hogwarts-they’ve probably been snogging in broom cupboards for months!”
Rose went beet red which told me that at least part of what I was saying was correct. “That is
not true,” she said furiously.
I snorted. “Don’t try to deny it, Rosie. You’ve got a thing for Scorpius Evil-Pants Malfoy!”
Louis raised his eyebrows and said “Evil-pants?” and Jeremy looked down at his feet, apparently uncomfortable. Or upset-I couldn’t work out which. Rose, on the other hand, rolled her eyes in the typical Rose fashion and pushed the chocolate cake into my hands. “Shut up and eat,” she said.
I obliged.
“What time is it anyway?” I muttered, shovelling cake into my mouth. It was delicious-and somehow managed to make me forget about the pounding in my head.
“About three o’clock,” said Rose. “Everyone went home an hour or two go. Well, they didn’t really have a choice in the matter, to be honest.”
“What’d you mean?”
Rose cringed. “Well, somehow dad got wind that Scorpius had turned up and, well, you know dad…” she trailed off, embarrassed.
There was a short silence in which I finished the cake.
Jeremy grinned at me. “You eat like a man,” he said.
I gave him a look. “Seriously, Jeremy? I just woke up, hungover and still a little tipsy in a bathroom and you want to tell me I ‘eat like a man’? Don’t you think that’s a little uncalled for?”
Jeremy shrugged. “Just stating the facts.”
Louis yawned widely. “Well the fact is, I’m exhausted,” he said. “I say we all just crash here the remainder of the night and then tomorrow…” he broke off suddenly, because I had suddenly started moaning and clutching at my stomach. “What’s wrong, Izzy?”
I had suddenly come over all weak and shaking. Maybe eating that chocolate cake was not the wisest idea…
“Oh Merlin…” I mumbled, attempting to sit up straighter. “I think I’m going to vomit…”
Louis let out a girlish scream, Rose groaned and Jeremy cried; “Into the toilet, Izzy, into the toilet!”
Clutching at my stomach, I got to my knees and attempted to crawl over to the toilet bowl, which Louis was sitting next to, looking disgusted.
But I didn’t quite make it in time.
I fell on top of Louis and vomited all over his shirt.
“Izzy!” Louis squealed, pushing me away from him. “This is a brand new shirt! It cost me ten galleons!”
“Oh Louis, stop worrying about your clothes,” said Rose impatiently. “Izzy, are you alright? Do you want me to…”
But she didn’t get to finish, because clearly I wasn’t done vomiting.
This time it splattered all over the bathroom floor, narrowly missing Jeremy’s foot.
“This is disgusting,” moaned Louis. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
And with that, he ran from the room. What supportive friends I have.
“This is the worst birthday ever,” I mumbled, wiping vomit from my cheek with my hand.
How do I get myself into these situations?
A/N: Hello there, dear readers!
Oh, what an interesting drunk Isabella is! Do you have any new opinions on the characters-old or new? If so, please tell me what you think! The cast will be returning to Hogwarts next chapter, so be prepared for some mayhem!
It would mean so much to me if you could review-I love all feedback, and I'm always looking for new ways to improve my writing, so CC's are much welcomed!
Courtney:)
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