Jenna and the other three girls stiffed up, glaring at their direction. "What the hell do you want?"
"Look, can't we just leave the past behind?" said Avery, and Jenna was surprised to hear actual remorse in his voice. "I know we didn't get off the right start, and I feel really bad about it. But it's not too late to change that."
Jenna hesitated at first, glancing at him curiously as though trying to read his thoughts through his expression. But the boy seemed to be genuine with his words.
Jenna pursed her lips together, throwing a quick glance back at her friends, though they didn't seem too reassured either.
"So... do you think you can accept my apology?" Avery asked, cracking a smile.
"I guess," Jenna mumbled, trying to find the forgiveness in her heart. Maybe he really did feel sorry. Everyone was capable of change after all.
"Great!" Avery smiled, and then raised his hand for Jenna to shake. "Friends?"
Jenna glanced down at his hand for long seconds as Lily, Alice, and Marlene gaped at her in silence. She still didn't like the boy, but she hoped that he could find his way to the good side if there was someone to believe in him to change.
So with that, Jenna warily raised her hand and shook Avery's hand. But right at that moment, Avery quickly dug into his robe's pocket with his free hand and took a fistful of white powder out. And then, before Jenna could react, he raised his hand up and blew the powder into Jenna's face.
Alice, Lily, Marlene gasped and rushed forward as Jenna let out a squeal and backed away with her eyes closed, meanwhile Avery and Mulciber laughed.
"Jen? Jenna, are you all right?" Lily asked briskly, all of them checking to see how she was feeling.
Breathing heavily in both anger and horror, Jenna slowly blinked her eyes open. She had expected that the white powder was meant to make her eyes burn, but she felt fine. Nothing felt different.
But then Jenna's attention was caught when Lily screamed and Alice clapped a hand to her mouth.
"What? What is it?" Jenna asked quickly in horror while Mulciber and Avery were howling with laughter.
"Y-your — your hair," Marlene pointed a shaky hand at Jenna's head.
She didn't understand what Marlene meant at first, so Jenna reached out to grab onto her own hair to see what was wrong, but she let out a scream in horror when a large chunk of her hair was pulled down easily.
Avery had blown a balding powder into her face, causing all her hair to fall down gradually in large quantities once at a time. Her hair turned brown the moment it was disconnected from her head.
Jenna kept on screaming in terror, and everyone started gathering around them to see what was going on. Some were sniggering around them, and some murmured in disgust. Jenna even caught sight of James and his friends running into the entrance hall to see what was happening as Avery and Mulciber kept on laughing.
Jenna felt tears of humiliation fill up her eyes, and so she ran out of the hall, climbing up the marble staircase before she could go completely hairless in front of the whole school.
"That's what you deserve, freak!" Avery yelled after her, but Jenna didn't stop running.
She didn't even turn around to see the way Marlene tried to jump on Avery to punch him, she didn't see how James and Sirius drew out their wands, or how the Professors rushed into the hall moments later to see what was going on.
Jenna just ran as fast as she could while she cried, ignoring Lily and Alice's calls after her as they tried to catch up with her. But eventually, they lost sight her.
***
Jenna had managed to hide all day inside an empty broom closet. She sat in a corner and hugged her legs to her chest, sobbing as she rested her forehead on her knees. Although the closet was bright even though it had no windows, seeing as Jenna was wearing her glow-in-the-dark shoes which her parents had sent her that morning for her birthday.
Being a Metamorphmagus, Jenna had managed to grow out her hair easily, but now it had turned into silver from sadness.
Jenna couldn't remember feeling this humiliated and embarrassed in her whole life. She could still hear the sound of the kids' laughter in her head, she could remember the way people stared and pointed at her as they sniggered, she could still feel the horror she'd felt as all her long beautiful hair had started falling.
She just wanted to lock herself up inside the broom closet forever, never planning on going back out there again. She didn't care how hungry she was going to get. She wanted stay in there for the rest of the year, and then probably never return to Hogwarts again. She had never felt this homesick.
Jenna didn't know how long she was in the spacious broom closet, but what felt like hours later, her head snapped up when someone knocked at the door.
"Go away!" Jenna said sharply, thinking that it was Lily or Alice, here to talk to her. But she wasn't in the mood to see anyone.
Although she was surprised when the next moment the door opened, and she saw Sirius peering his head inside the room.
Jenna abruptly turned her head around so he wouldn't be able to see her wet cheeks and red eyes.
"Hey," Sirius said softly.
"Go away, Sirius," Jenna mumbled under her breath, hiding her face into her knees as she was sitting on the dusty ground.
But instead of leaving, Sirius entered the spacious broom closer and closed the door behind him. Slowly, he approached Jenna and sat on the floor beside her, glancing at her direction.
"How did you find me?" Jenna muttered.
"We all split up to find you," said Sirius. "I saw the glow through the broom closets, and thought you would be here."
Jenna didn't answer him. They sat together in silence, and Sirius tried to come up with something to say in order to make her feel better, or at least to distract her from the things that had happened.
"Your hair's back," Sirius blurted out, but he regretted saying anything when the next moment Jenna turned her face toward him sharply and glared daggers at him.
"So you're here to mock me too!?"
"No, no! Of course not!" Sirius shook his head briskly, becoming nervous as to what he could say. "If anything, I-I always thought your hair looked pretty."
Jenna raised a brow at him.
"I-I mean in a cool way," he corrected himself quickly.
Jenna sniffed as she looked away again. Her hair still remained silver, as did the sadness in her heart.
"Not everyone thinks like that," she whispered, trying to hold back her tears. "They... they think I'm a freak."
"Ugh, who cares what they think!" Sirius huffed. "They are a bunch of idiots!"
"You don't understand! You can't understand how it feels like to be different!" Jenna sobbed, frowning.
"You think I don't understand?" Sirius raised a brow at her. "I'm a freak in my own family's eyes. A Gryffindor among generation of Slytherins. 'Wicked child'. 'A disgrace to the name of Black'. That's what my own mother calls me."
Jenna felt pity toward him at those words, but she still wouldn't look up at him.
"But do I care?" Sirius continued. "Absolutely not!"
She said nothing.
Sirius sighed. "Look... you have a family that loves you unconditionally. Friends that care for you. Who cares what those two gits think? Their brains are smaller than McGonagall's patience!"
Jenna let out a light laughter at that. "True."
"Ah, see? There's the smile I've been trying to bring out!" Sirius said cheerfully, nudging Jenna with his elbow as they were seated on the dusty floor side by side.
Jenna chuckled again, but then she finally smiled genuinely. "Thanks..."
"Of course." Sirius returned the smile. But he was caught off guard when Jenna placed her head on his shoulder.
He suddenly stiffened, feeling awkward as he had no idea how he was supposed to react. So mustering all the courage he had in him, he slowly raised his arm after long seconds and hesitantly wrapped it around her shoulder comfortingly, both of them feeling butterflies in their stomach.