"Dad, please!" Estelle yelled, the inferi now dragging her down by scratching down her collar bone, almost pulling her head in.
Regulus pulled her out and the inferi grabbed him instead, dragging him into the deep waters. "Elle!" He yelled, holding onto her hand for dear life as she tried to save her father.
Her grip on his arm slipped, and she reached for it again, only for the inferi immediately dragging him down. "Dad! No- Dad!" Estelle raspily screamed, tears running down her face.
Regulus's horror-filled expression slowly faded into the dark water. She sobbed loudly, "Dad-"
Estelle woke up with a gasp, sweat plastered on her forehead. She breathed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose
"Elle, what happened? There at the Lake?" questioned Barty Jr, Remus and Estelle sitting in 'his' office the next morning, the door locked of course. Estelle kept her head down, "I-I don't know" she stuttered as she spoke, toying with the rings on her fingers.
"Elle, what happened in the water? Tell us." said Remus. Estelle slightly hesitated, "...the grindylows..." she said quietly, "The grindylows? What about them?" Barty raised a brow.
"They began to attack me because I saved more than one person...". "So? They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?" Barty's voice was laced with confusion.
"You don't understand, Barty... they dragged me down into the water by the feet" Estelle moved onto pinching her clothes. Barty's face was still confused-looking, but it instantly clicked in Remus's head.
It took Barty a good minute to finally put the pieces together, and he kneeled down to Estelle's level as she was sat on a chair. "Oh, Estelle.." he said sympathetically.
Estelle hid her face from the two, teardrops falling onto her lap. "Estelle-" Remus was cut off by Estelle suddenly getting up and hugging him tightly, beginning to sob into his chest.
Remus and Barty looked at each other, their eyes filled with sympathy as they've never ever seen Estelle act like this before. "Hey, it's alright.." Remus hugged her back, "You weren't there, Remus.. I don't know what happened to me, I was just so scared, I-I panicked!" She sputtered out.
"We know, Elle... but what matters is that you made it out, and you made it out safe" said Barty. Estelle pushed herself away from Remus and kept her head down, wiping off her tears.
"Estelle, look at me.." Remus raised her chin, her face all watery, red and an expression that was a mix of anger, fear and sadness. "You don't have to hide yourself from us, or your sadness...trust me, I understand" related Barty.
"No, Barty.." Estelle wiped her tears away from her rosy cheeks, "I won't cry anymore, ever, starting now". "Estelle, don't do this, you'll regret bottling up your emotions" worried Remus
"I won't bottle up existing emotions, then. I'm done, I'm sick of feeling like this" Estelle angrily rubbed her eyes, "It'd be better if I just don't feel at all". Remus and Barty exchanged looks of concern for Estelle.
- - -
Mattheo, once again, walked in late along with Theodore into Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the stench of the cigarettes that they'd smoked earlier following them.
"You two again, this is the fifth time you've been late to my class, I'm afraid that qualifies for a detention" said Professor Moody as the two lanky boys took their seats.
Mattheo scoffed as he sat down in his chair, "Now, I want to see your quills only on your desks, we're having a pop quiz" announced Professor Moody, making everyone groan in response.
Estelle simply sighed, putting her books aside, "pst, Black" whispered Mattheo, but she did not reply. "Oi!" He whispered, but Estelle only sighed, "Black, listen to me you deaf twat" he snapped in a whispering tone.
She scowled, looking at him, "what?" She threatened more than asked, Moody placing a piece of parchment on everyone's desks. "What's this lesson about?" He chuckled ironically.
"Are you fucking serious? I'm not helping you, Riddle" Estelle turned her head back to the board on which the questions were written. Estelle easily answered each question, whereas Mattheo and Theodore kept on sharing looks to try and help each other out.
And just as Estelle flipped her paper and placed it on the corner of her desk, the pestering re-began. "Black, — " Mattheo looked around for some other help, that help being Draco, but he was at the front of the classroom, " — you've got to help me out".
"Riddle asking for help?" Estelle scoffed silently, rolling her eyes, "Still, not a chance. You should've paid attention". Moody signaled for her to stop talking, and she did, but Mattheo and Theodore didn't.
"Come on it's not even that serious- " Theodore by Moody retrieving everyone's papers from their desks, Mattheo's parchment only half-filled.
"Good work today everyone. Misters Riddle and Nott, please meet me in my office tonight at eight. You are all dismissed" said Professor Moody, all the students scramming out of class as fast as they could.
As Estelle walked out and into the garden, the Slytherin boy group followed behind Mattheo and Theodore, whom seemed to follow Estelle.
"You don't always have to be such a stuck up, goody-two-shoes bitch" snarked Mattheo, passing her. "And you don't always have to be a narcissistic, selfish idiot" Estelle snapped back.
"Hey- watch it, Black" said Lorenzo, shooting her a dirty look, "You should be telling that to Mister 'failing Dark Arts class' over there".
"He said to fucking watch it" Mattheo angrily marched towards her, but Blaise came, holding him back. "You're such a selfish bitch, you know that, Estelle?" spat Draco, "Now you'd know all about being a bitch like the sissy you are, yeah Draco?"
Draco scoffed, taking out his wand, "Why you little- ", but Lorenzo took his wand from him, not wanting to cause a big deal. "Could you guys just ever calm down even for a second?! She's only a girl, and it's five-versus-one, that's not fair" scolded Lorenzo.
"Think I can't take a fight, Berkshire?" Estelle crossed her arms, "I know you can, but against us, I'd like to see you try" Lorenzo defended.
"As if" Estelle scoffed. Theodore emerged from the back and pushed Estelle by the shoulders, "You don't threaten my fucking friends. Se scherzi con I miei amici, io scherzerò con te" he threatened.
Estelle was about to hit Theodore in response, but Mattheo managed his way out of Blaise's grip, immediately going to punch Estelle in the face. Estelle stumbled, touching her bleeding nose, "Oh fuck you!" She yelled, punching him back in the jaw and kicking him in the knee.
Mattheo aimed for a punch at her stomach, put was pulled away this time by Blaise and Theodore. "Who in Merlin's name do you think you are?!" Draco stepped up, only for 'Moody' to come running, holding up his wand which seemed to turn Draco into a blonde ferret.
Everyone in the garden laughed as he moved him up and down then placing him on Mattheo's head, which he quickly grabbed off.
- - -
"I hope you three acknowledge the consequences of your actions. The event that occurred between you in the garden was utterly disrespectful and completely irresponsible"
Theodore, Estelle and Mattheo sat in Moody's office, scowls on their faces. "In my defense, Nott over here pushed me first" said Estelle matter-of-factly, taking the ice pack off her bloodied nose.
"Pushed. That's nothing" scoffed Mattheo, "Yeah, well, you punched me in the face" she snapped back, "Enough, I don't want to know who started what. Either way, the three of you fought physically and that'll cost you ten house points each" said Moody.
"But you two still have detention. Miss Black, you may leave". "Oh, and here's next week's assignment already done, Professor" Estelle handed Moody a piece of parchment before heading out.
"Nerd" uttered Theodore under his breath, "Jackass" she replied back, "Watch your language, Black" said Moody just as Estelle stepped out.
// uhmm sorry for the 5 day wait for this chapter 😁. My sleep schedule has been horrible lately and I'm just so busy this month especially with TC tests starting next week.
But anyways, here's the translation for Theodore's Italian:
Se scherzi con I miei amici, io scherzerò con te:
If you mess with my friends, I'll mess with you
Btw I forgot to say this, but please mention if you're a Pierce The Veil fan in the comments please😭😭😭. Xx.