Sophia spent the next couple of weeks avoiding David. It broke her heart to be away from her only friend for so long, but she knew that she deserved it. She'd obviously really hurt David by not getting along with his cousin, and she kicked herself for allowing herself to push him to the point where he'd decided to prioritise Daniel over her. She didn't blame him though. She would choose Adam if it came to it.
She spent those lonely days working in isolation, her gaze fixed to the floor. She barely spoke to Adam as he was so busy with quidditch practice.
She did, however, notice how much more time David and Daniel were spending together. Her heart ached. If she had just gotten over herself, she could've had a really good friendship with David.
Who knows? She could've even gotten along with Daniel as well eventually if she had given him enough chances.
- - - - -
The first quidditch match of the season was on Halloween and was set to be Horned Serpents against Thunderbirds. Trudging down to the pitch by herself, Sophia kicked her boots through the muddy puddles.
Sat in the stands, she glanced around but soon caught the eye of David, who was staring at her very intently. He was sat next to Daniel.
Blushing, Sophia looked down again.
The match seemed to take a strangely long time to get started, but once it did she managed to forget about her troubles for a little while and just focus on cheering on her brother. It was a very long game due to the poor weather so by the time the Horned Serpents won by a landslide, it was time for the Halloween feast.
Freezing cold bodies huddled together in small groups of friends, as people trundled back up to the castle, talking about their favourite moments from the game. As Sophia walked back through the double doors at the entrance, she felt a hesitant hand on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw that it was David, a nervous look on his face. Sophia grinned widely at him. David opened his mouth to speak.
"Sophia, I just-" But a scream coming from further inside the school cut him off.
Turning quickly on the spot, Sophia pushed her way through the crowd, intent on seeing what had happened. When she came to the front she saw a body dangling, suspended from a staircase, over everyone's heads. She felt movement at her side and glanced long enough to see that David and Daniel had also pushed through the crowd to join her.
"What is that?" Daniel asked, shuddering.
"It's not real." Sophia reassured him. "It's just a Halloween prank. It doesn't even look realistic, it's only a dummy."
"I get that." Daniel said, his voice still shaking. "I meant... What is that?" He reached out a shaky arm and pointed at the dummy. Looking closer, Sophia could make out a piece of parchment pinned to the chest of the dummy. Although it took her a few seconds of squinting to decipher the spidery handwriting scrawled in black ink, it made her gasp and feel sick to her stomach once she understood Daniel's terror.
A No-Maj in their rightful place.
She glanced to her side and saw that Daniel was now shaking all over, while David was trying to calm him down. Suddenly, a booming voice could be heard over the hundreds of people talking all at once.
"Everyone please leave this area immediately. The feast is about to begin. Please file calmly into the dining hall, ready to be served."
Sophia stared incredulously as people started walking away, already bored by the spectacle. Rolling her eyes, she began to follow them, before feeling a pair of eyes staring into the back of her head. She turned to see David, still trying to calm down Daniel. Both were rooted on the spot.
Sophia knew that seeing as David no longer considered her a friend, it would be completely in her right to walk away from the two of them, and go and enjoy her first ever Halloween feast. However, wasn't it that kind of thinking that lost her David in the first place?
And Daniel was obviously in no state to be hated right now. Sophia couldn't even bring herself to dislike him or feel jealous of him with the way that he looked, shaking, leaning on his cousin for support and pale white.
Walking back towards them, against the tide of other students, Sophia saw how David's eyes lit up with joy.
"Come with me to the owlery." She said, going to stand on Daniel's other side, intending to shield him as best as possible from the strange looks the older students were sending him.
Practically dragging Daniel by this point, Sophia and David managed to get to the owlery before too long. The room was empty except for the three of them and the hundreds of birds, and by that time Daniel had gained back his ability to stand by himself and some of the colour in face again.
Sophia ran around the room, pulling out scrap bits of parchment and an ink well that had been left behind by someone as it only contained dregs.
"This will have to do." She said. "I just need a quill to write with now." She looked around, unable to find one until her eyes landed on David. There was an awkward silence between the two, until David reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a small, slightly squashed feather quill.
"Take mine." He said, offering it to her.
Sophia didn't say a word as she took it and began to scribble four words. She whistled and a second later Mark was fluttering down from his perch. Sophia tied the note to his leg while walking to the window at the same time.
"Fly quickly. Now, Mark." She said, leaning her arm out of the window.
With that sorted, calm descended on the three children.
"What did you just do?" Daniel asked.
"You'll see." She put simply.
- - - - - - - - - -
Whew. Happy that I've finished writing these already, as I doubt I would've been able to get this up after the busy week I have had.
Anyway, vote, comment, follow me if you want. The usual :)
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Innocence
Fanfiction'Percival carefully took Credence's hands in his. "My darling." He said softly. "Hatred is a foul creature born initially from fear. But like a fire, as it spreads it becomes all-consuming and destructive. In time, the hatred may be quenched but fro...
