Hexed (Fred Weasley ft the gang)

three

But, as Xan learnt in her years of being here, her silent moments of peace never lasted long.

"Oi! Xanthie! You still in here?" Called the girl she was talking to mere minutes ago. Xan sighed, opening her eyes once again and quickly rinsing the shampoo from her hair. She stepped out of the shower area, a small green towel wrapped around her body as the steam still rose from her skin from the sheer heat of the water. As she walked out into the cooler air of the main room, she saw El perched on one of the benches and holding Xans sweater in her lap with a smile. When El saw Xanthie enter the room she lifted the material from her lap and up to Xan, who gratefully took the heavy knit from her and pat herself dry, quickly sliding it on along with underwear and a pair of shorts as she'd only be walking from here up to her dorms so she didn't really care for looking good. Xan took a seat opposite El and gave her a look saying "what do you want?", still with a smile on her lips.

"I'm just thinking about the Slytherin party tomorrow. Since I'll obviously be there, I thought I should bring Nev but I-" She started, holding the same gold chain with a heart pendant in her small hands that Neville had been fiddling with around his neck earlier. Xan looked down at it and as El pulled open the locket and closed gently she saw the faces of El's parents, looking between each other and then back to face the camera. El, Neville and Harry were some of the only ones who knew truly how it felt to be without both parents, just like her. It was sweet that she carried a piece of them around with her at all times. Even sweeter that she gave it to Neville religiously before every Ravenclaw game as a good luck ritual, so he was always supporting her in the stands.

"Longbottom? At a party? Would he cope?" Xan laughed, scrunching her hair in a new towel in attempt to dry it a little bit. El looked up at her trying to appear angry but Xan could see the hint of amusement in her eyes as she pushed her dark hair back from her face.

"Listen, I'm thinking with a little bit of this-" She held up a small vial of shimmering golden liquid in between her forefinger and thumb. Xans eyes were danced up and down the Liquid Luck that El held in her hand, following the golden flickers "-I might be able to ask him out sometime!" El said with a giddy smile on her face, almost childlike. Xans face lit up.

She always knew there was something between them but not to this extent. She always saw them together, whether it was when she was walking to Herbology with Ron and seen them walking a little too close to be just friends or sitting outside by the Black Lake, El's hair usually riddled with wild flowers and Neville smiling wide at her. He always had a glint of something in his eyes when he looked at El but Xanthie never could quite place what it was in the fleeting moments she'd seen them together.

"You're a genius, Ravenclaw. No wonder you're my only friend from that house." Xan smiled, laying her head on Els shoulder as she continued watching the vial in her hands. El dropped the small glass into Xans hand, allowing her a closer look. It was a beautiful colour, mottled gold and shimmering in the dim lights of the changing room. El was a talented witch, always helping Xan with potions homework when Snape wasn't able to. And Xan knew exactly where to get any potion she may require for outwith class time (usually Baruffios Brain Elixir for the particularly hard exams). El laughed down at Xan before asking,

"So you appprove? Can I bring him?" Xan nodded excitedly, gently slipping the potion back into Els robes.

"Duh, he'd be dumb to turn you down! I don't know why you're so nervous." Xan said, as if it was as obvious to El as it was to her how head over heels Neville was for her. With Xans sign of approval, El stood up and made her way to the door to make her exit. With a flash of a smile and blue robes following behind her, she was gone. Xan found herself alone once again.

Xanthie put all of her stuff into her locker and made her way out onto the field to begin the short walk back to her dorms, ready to get a great nights sleep and maybe catch a small glimpse of her mother in her dreams. Just like she did almost every night. It was as if she was trying to speak to her, tell her how much she loved and missed her. Xan longed for sleep to drag her in every night, never wanting to wake in the mornings for fear of never seeing the woman again. Although Xanthie knew Bellatrix was undoubtedly a bad person, she was still her mother and that loss affected her more than she cared to admit.