Rose Petals ✿ Remus Lupin - Discontinued :(

Chapter 38

"Hey Belle," Lily greeted as she took a seat in-between her and Sirius, "Is something wrong? You look shaken."

"It's nothing, really. My mind's just been fuzzy lately..."

"Fuzzy?" Sirius raised a brow, planting a kiss on her cheek as a greeting, "Are you ill?"

"I don't think so, I've just been thinking about a lot lately."

"About what?" Remus asked, and Belle couldn't help but be astounded by how the boy looked. Minutes ago he was shaking and stuttering in a hasty panic but now it looked as if the conversation never happened at all. In fact, he looked almost tired even.

"Uh—the potions exam..."

"Well that was a lie," James snorted, taking a sip of his Pumpkin juice, "You know that you can't lie to us, Belle. What happened?"

"It was the Slytherins, wasn't it?" Sirius's tone shocked the whole group as he looked towards the green and silver table. His voice had dropped two octaves and now had a gravely and nearly growling pitch to it.

"Why on Merlin's beard would it be the Slytherins, Sirius?" Belle groaned, trying her best to play off that he was right. Sirius had a talent of guessing Belle's problems, and since they've been together, he's been determined to fix all of them.

"Maybe because that Gaston kid hasn't stopped looking at you since you got here."

Belle moved her eyes toward the Slytherin table, where Gaston was indeed staring directly at her, an impish look in his cold eyes. She shuddered, but she didn't feel scared. Well, some part of her was definitely terrified, but her conscience wasn't telling her to run away.

"Gaston sure has been interested in you lately, Belle," Rose scrunched her nose in disgust, "what happened between you two?"

"I don't know. All I do know is that ever since McGonagall partnered us up in Transfiguration, he's been weirdly nice, alright? If he ever does anything, I give you all permission to punch him in the face, okay?"

They nodded, satisfied with her answer but Sirius still glared at the boy whenever he could. Belle let a breath out at their acceptance, but she knew the thought of everything just calming down for a split second was too much to ask. Just as Belle was about to turn back into a conversation with Lily and Eileen about what they were doing for Christmas holiday, which was in two days, an owl came soaring in to the Hall. Everyone watched it with confusion- mail didn't arrive until Sundays unless you went to the Owlery to get it. It flew in circles around the Gryffindor table until it dropped the letter right over Belle, landing in the girls' lap. She stared at it for a second, afraid to open whatever was in the strange letter. When she did gain the courage to open the letter, what she found on it sent more chill down her back.

USE THE QUILL

"Use the Quill? What the bloody hell does that mean?"

Belle stared at the note in her hands, "No idea."

— — — — —

Belle gripped the quill in her hands tightly, examining it from side to side to see if there was anything special about it. It was a beautiful quill, no doubt. The feathers were a delicate gold, glittering with a magical sparkle that led up into the handle of the quill, which was a dark wood with little markings up and down the sides. The point of the quill was sharp and polished looking, it looked like an ordinary and completely average quill. She lifted it up to the candle light to try and see if there was a secret message or anything worth noting but her examination of the quill given to her by Rylen was cut short by the sound of the girls' voices flooding the stairwell. Belle shoved the quill into her beside drawer and darted to the bathroom, leaving the door cracked and turning on the shower tap with her wand. She listened intently to the conversation at hand.

As they entered the room their voices lowered and utter silence filled the room.

"She's in the shower," Eileen confirmed, "We have maybe five minutes."

"You have to tell her, Rose."

"I can't, not yet. It's too soon."

"Too soon? More like too late!" Eileen scoffed, "Tell her."

"I will—I promise. For now let's focus on the boys, alright?"

Belle heard their voices fade and she let out quiet grumbles to herself. She didn't understand how her friends could talk in such secretive voices and why they decided all of the sudden to do so. She flicked her wand towards her hair, making it damp and shutting off the shower tap. She let herself take on a surprised facade when she saw them.

"Oh," she jumped, "You guys scared me!"

The girls chuckled, but their faces were tense. Belle decided to be oblivious and ignore them. She wanted to take a walk and see if the boys were still in the common room, but her body told her she wanted to sleep. And so she did. That night the girls went to sleep early, all of them trying to ignore the situation at hand.

Little did Belle know her night wasn't going to end there.