ghost stories - h. potter

Twenty-One

It seemed as though over the next week of the school break, everyone begun to notice the odd tension between Harry and Belle. The pair had taken to stuttering whenever they were around each other and shooting each other glances when the other one wasn't looking - something that the two hadn't picked up on but everyone else did. Belle, who had never found herself being as much of a mess before in her life, even before she got together with Emilia, wasn't quite sure how to deal with Harry and had taken to trying to avoid him, though it was quite difficult to do in such a small house. 

Instead, Belle spent most of her time conversing with Charlie Weasley. He, after realising that Belle had taken an intense liking towards magical creatures and was literally surrounded by them every moment she spent at her home, had found himself enjoying the company of the girl as they conversed eagerly about dragons and the work he did in Romania. 

She'd found herself enjoying the company of Fleur Weasley, who she had spoken to once or twice the year the Triwizard Tournament had occurred. As the Beauxbatons students had taken seats at the Ravenclaw table, Fleur and Belle had run into each other once or twice, though it took Fleur a moment to remember the girl when she had brought the subject up to her. Belle had been completely enthralled after Fleur had mentioned the French Wizarding school and she spent time with Belle often, who enjoyed listening to her descriptions of the foreign country. 

Bill, who had left the school just a few years before she started, had by far the most interesting stories, though she wouldn't have admitted it to anyone else. He spent hours, well into the evening conversing with Belle about his job as a Curse Breaker in Egypt before moving to Gringott's in Diagon Alley so he could help Fleur with her English. 

Percy, who had been working at the Ministry before the battle, had taken a rather different path once the world was at peace again. He'd started a funded organisation that helped survivors of the war who were still struggling to come to terms with what had happened, or suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He told Belle that he, Charlie and Bill were always around for dinner at least once every week. They had lost Fred so quickly and spent so little time with him after leaving Hogwarts, they didn't want to make the same mistake again just in case. By the end of the week, George had been convinced to start coming back to the Burrow more often, too.

Belle spent time with Ginny, quite often playing quidditch or playing exploding snap which had become quite popular between the two girls. It seemed as though any awkward tension that had settled between the two girls at the start of the year completely disappeared the more they spent time with each other. She'd even asked Belle to help her out with a few pieces of homework for Care of Magical Creatures that she was having problems with.

She spent time with the trio, who had eventually told her the night before they were to return home, what had happened the year they were away from Hogwarts. At some points, Hermione, Ron and Harry had to get up and leave individually as it got too difficult to remember, but the retelling of their bequest had been worth it when they mentioned the Ukranian Ironbelly that had been locked up deep in the caverns of Gringotts. Harry couldn't find it in himself to look away as the girl's eyes lit up, wonder painting her face at the mention of the dragon. When she heard how Gringotts had been treating it, Harry couldn't fit it in himself to look away as the girl's eyes grew dark and sad as she listened to the torture it had been trained to expect. When they told her how they had let it escape and had actually flown on it without it trying to throw them off, she'd been amazed.

She'd been quiet throughout most of the story and had offered comfort to the three of them through simple smiles and small hand squeezes when they needed it most. She hadn't judged Ron when she was told about how he had left to return to the Burrow around Christmas time, but had rather felt sorry for him. She imagined it would have been difficult for him to go each day without hearing a word about how his family was doing.