ᴘʏʀʀʜɪᴄ ᴠɪᴄᴛᴏʀʏ// ᴛʜᴇ ɢɪʀʟ ᴡʜᴏ ʟɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴀᴜ

GRIM DEFEAT P.T 1

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy Weasley, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."

Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..."

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.

The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened and Roman was making a big theatric about it too.

Standing in the middle of a big group of students, all from different houses, Roman pulled Bluebell with him as he exaggeratedly moved his hands to show how the slashes of the painting were, and people were hooked onto every word.

"The painting's fucked up, the fat lady, bless her, is too," Roman said, glancing at the people around him. "She was hiding behind uh..."

He clicked his fingers to try to remember but failed so he turned to Blue who staring into space, trying her best to keep her worries at bay and off her face.

He nudged her with his elbow into her side. "Hey, where was the fat lady hiding?"

Bluebell blinks out of her thoughts, looking at the faces of the students that were expecting an answer before smirking back at her friend. "Dunno, reckon nobody has found her, must be a great hiding spot."

"Poor thing." A Hufflepuff's girl said.

"Reckon it's behind a massive Rhino, the only animal big enough to hide her fat arse." An older Ravenclaw laughed, and a few other people did too.

Bluebell rounded on him, a glare on her face.

"She's still Gryffindors fat lady, bruv, so watch ya mouth," Bluebell said, eyes sharp, challenging him to say another word. "And you ain't allowed to say shit about her, not when by the time you turn twenty-five you'll be balding if that receding' hairline is any indication, and with the way, you're built too, like a proper foot thumb."

Laughs echo through the group, the boy looked away from Bluebell's gaze, his cheeks turned pink from embarrassment as his gaze turned to the ground, other people, the ceiling, everywhere that wasn't her eyes.

"Go on, say sorry," Roman said, placing his elbow on Bluebell's shoulder, and leaning against her.

Both held an eat-shitting grin as the boy looked at them perplexed, "B-but she's not even here?"

"Oh, you thought you'll talk like that about our great, dear fat lady and we'll let you get away with it?" Roman said, scoffing a laugh. "Not fucking likely, mate."

"Apologize," Bluebell deadpanned, her eyes never leaving his nervous form.

At this point, Bluebell didn't care all that much about the fat lady, now, it was more a sort of entertainment to have the Ravenclaw boy embarrassed and trying his best to not look as humiliated as he probably felt, it was... it felt oddly great, for reasons unbeknownst to even herself.