Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 71

Isabella was taking refuge in Hagrid's cabin and in the Forbidden Forest. She didn't have the strength to stay anywhere near the castle. 

Hagrid had filled her in about what happened at the match and Isabella only felt more terrible.

Regulus Black wasn't as bad as she thought he was. And all she did was misunderstand the boy.

"Hagrid," Isabella said slowly as she examined a rock cake. "What would you do if someone you disliked turns out to be. . .not as bad as you have expected them to be?"

"Talkin' about youn' Regulus, eh?" Hagrid said, not looking up from the boot he was stitching up.

"Yes," Isabella said. 

"Feelin' strange now?" Hagrid said looking up with a mischievous look on his face. "Somethin' that wasn' there before?"

Isabella knew what he was talking about. 

"No," she answered honestly. 

She wasn't so gullible that she would fall for someone just because they saved her. Yes, she was grateful, but that was it. 
It was something that should be considered humane, to save someone who could have fallen to their possible death, without thinking about the pros and cons. It was something every person should be able to do. 

And Isabella had higher standards than something as basic as that.

"I've never been on good terms with Black," Isabella said, placing the rock cake back down. She liked having all her teeth in place. 

"Since our very first year, all we've done is jump down each other's throats and take jibes at each other," 

"Dumbledore says love works in strange ways," Hagrid said airily, grinning. 

Isabella rolled her eyes incredulously.

"Hagrid, I don't love Regulus Black," she said firmly. "I don't even remotely like him,"

She leaned back in her seat and stared at Hagrid who was examining his boot, checking it for any more holes. 

"He is a jerk," Isabella said. ". . .But he might not be that bad of a jerk. . .I am not sure if I should thank him,"

"Fer savin' yeh?" Hagrid said. Isabella nodded.

"Yes," she said. "But he hasn't been the best person in the world. I could just forget all that he has done in the past years, instead of a thank you. . .He's called a mudblood countless times and all those times I've messed up my potion because of him,"

But Hagrid's head had snapped up and he was staring at her with wide eyes.

"He called yeh a what?" he snapped.

Isabella who was ranting about the times she had lost her grades because of Black, stopped.

". . .A mudblood," she said slowly.

Hagrid snorted angrily and returned to his boot, now in a terrible mood. 

"Had the lot o' em," he said grumpily. "All the same. The Malfoys, Blacks, Rowles. Gits...nasty little. . ." he grumbled.

"Sirius' the only one who turned out fine," 

Isabella nodded in agreement. Sirius certainly was way pleasanter a company than his brother. . .on second thought, not that much. Isabella couldn't handle all the excitement and energy Sirius had.

Isabella shook her head and changed the subject. 

"Hagrid, how is Hog's Head?" she asked. "Is it safe for me to go there? And the drinks are alright I suppose?"