Rennervate

chapter 9

Utter exhuastion.

That is what I'm feeling as I toss and turn in my bed, forcing myself to close my eyes and finally sleep.

It seems that since the incident with June Jordan awhile ago, after he left me breathing heavily on the castle steps because of our close proximity, my mind was off the grid for the most  part of the day.

I just brought myself trouble. I'm sure of it and that thought alone brings me on the verge of a breakdown because I promised myself I'll just live this school year out as quietly as possible but what's this now?

Associating myself with someone who is very unreal and so out of my league?

That's outright ludicrous!

And not to mention that half of Hogwarts could've seen what happened earlier when we were so out in the open. Great. Now I'm sure I'm going to have one hell of a day later- since it's already one in the morning.

I heave a big sigh and push myself out of the bed, casting a Muffliato spell on me so that I won't wake anyone up as I make my way outside. I couldn't sleep so I might as well make the most of it.

The moment I arrive at the foot of the stairs of the common room, I stay frozen on my tracks as movement caught my eye. There are three figures crowded by the fireplace, conversing in whispers. I am about to make a beeline back to the dorms when an eerily familiar voice echoes through the room.

"Someone's behind you."

For some reason, I don't move from my place, revealing myself to the three figures who immediately turned around upon the unexpected announcement.

"Blimey!" The tallest of them all exclaims in a shrill voice. I couldn't see them clearly but I know from that loud voice that it's Sol Knightly and I stagger on where I'm standing as realization hits me. Because when there is Sol Knightly and he's with two other Hufflepuffs, it could only mean one thing.

June Jordan's clique from the house of loyalty is complete.

"Roseanne!" A gasp erupts from the only girl of the trio, only confirming my hunch.

Not wanting their attention, I turn and run back to the staircase when Holden Jenkins stops me from doing so.

"Descendo!"

I feel myself being dragged back towards the bottom of the staircase and before I could even think of escaping again, strong arms engulf me from the back in a tackling position, making me yelp.

"Where do you think are you going?" Sol Knightly says behind my ear.

"Sol stop you're scaring her!" Lalisa exclaims somewhere beside me and I nod vigorously, feeling really small at the moment.

"Sol seriously stop," Says the voice that announced my arrival earlier and I look around, only to choke on the air I'm breathing when I see two faces peering at us in the fireplace.

Lalisa is beside me in a few seconds, rubbing my back as I gasp for air and I am hit with a wave of guilt for being a jerk to her the first day of school.

"Could've just let her be Lis," Theodore Kimmel speaks from the fireplace. Unlike his friend, he seems to not forget grudges easily.

"Shut up Theo," June Jordan hisses, glaring at his friend.

I look at the two Gryffindors whose heads are currently floating in our common room's hearth and take a deep breath. Trying to compose myself, I turn to the girl beside me. "Why are you guys using the floo network at this time?"

"We were just talking about stuff," Sol Knightly says, stepping towards me with bashful eyes. "Look, I'm really sorry for earlier. I just had enough of you running away."

I raise my eyebrows at him, weary. Running away? "What's that to you? And I haven't even ran away from you once except for now," I ask offhandedly.

Holden Jenkins hisses from beside Sol while Theodore laughs sarcastically. "I told you she's mean," He says, earning a glare from Lalisa who is still beside me.

"You ran away from my friends," Sol somewhat answers my question, equally sassy. "And that's like running away from me."

I only stare at them, not getting the point of all of this. They are all looking at me as if I just slapped all their faces. They look upset and I don't have any idea why.

"Look, you guys shouldn't bother with me-"

"Park, we've gone through this."

I turn to the direction of the voice and groan, passing a hand through my hair as frustration gets the best of me. "I never asked you to Jordan!" I look at each of them in the eye. "Plus you guys will just harm yourselves if you even get close to me."

"We're not getting jinxed by a bunch of Slytherins right now, aren't we? So why not?" Theodore Kimmel mutters, making me roll my eyes.

"You don't under-"

"No we don't," Lalisa Monterey says, moving to step in front of me. "We just want to be friends."

"And it's not because we want something from you," Holden speaks up.

"It's just you."

I lock gazes with the guy who was the reason of my dilemma to sleep in the first place. If it isn't for the seriousness of the situation, I would have laughed at his head that is floating in the green flames but I don't. Because all I see is the sincerity I can't quite get in his eyes.

"And from this moment, whoever's going to say you're not worth our friendship will have to face us."