Camila's POV.
"Is it always unlocked?" I feel Dinah breathe out slowly from behind me, taking a small glance at the steel grey lock. I shake my head, slowly taking the lock in one hand and placing it in between the frame of the door and the door itself.
"Somehow, only when I come out this late at night." I respond, getting a slow unsure nod from her, "Besides that, it's always locked."
Dinah stares at my strangely and nods again, this time seeming to think about my statement for a few seconds. I brush it off and motion all three girls to walk in first, slowly and quietly shutting the door behind me.
"Are you sure they won't see a damn lock on the floor?" Normani stresses, swallowing hard as she takes in her surrounding. I simply nod, walking down the familiar passage filled with dusty webs, unknown animals crawling past our feet, and the old, musty walls.
I can see past a few more moldy statues, being able to spot the black door with bold black letters carved harshly into the old wood: Jauregui
I turn to look at the girls behind me, still walking cautiously past a few objects with their wand clutched tightly at hand. I roll my eyes, "We're the only ones in here...besides Lauren, of course."
Dinah nods, "It's just a precaution." I chuckle to myself and slowly move them to keep up when we arrive only a few feet away from the black door. I turn around all the way to meet three uneasy expressions, "You guys ready to meet her?"
Dinah sighs, "What can I say to her? I don't want to make a fool of myself, nor do I want to upset her."
Normani looks down as well, "Yeah, same here." Ally agreeing with both girls nods slowly too.
"You won't upset her," I promise them, shaking my head softly. I reach in to take Dinah with one hand, Normani in the other and pushing Ally's small body with my center forward. "She'll love all three of you, trust me."
I slip past all three bodies and stare at the door for a while, feeling a bit nervous myself. I hadn't seen the beautiful green-eyed girl in quite a while, and I was almost completely sure that as soon as I would lay my eyes on her I would freeze.
Her beauty was just too much to handle.
I run the tip of my fingers over the knob of the large door, hearing shuffling from the other side as I turn to look at the other girls. I knew that I was only trying to stall as they waited for me to quickly open the door. Just the thought of her intimidating, piercing green eyes and that sexy unforgiving smirk coming face to face with me gave me chills.
"Well?" Ally smirks as she watches me heat up slowly, "Open the door.."
I nod, "Y-yeah...right."
I feel my heart hammer vigorously against my chest and I swallow hard to keep from yelling out in excitement. I wrap my hand around the old golden knob, slowly pushing the key lock and pulling the wooden door slowly.
Everything goes silent after that, even the shuffling on the other side of the door comes to an end as well. I can hear my heartbeat as I push the door all the way, feeling the girls' bodies pressed up against my own to see beyond the creepy room.
My eyes wander around the room and I finally spot her.
My heart leaps inside my throat before I can even manage to say a single word. My breathing starts to become uneven as my heart only continues to beat hard against my chest. I feel my lips tug into a smile when her green eyes meet mine curiously. I run my sweaty hands over my robe and step aside so that the three shy girls behind me get a full view of the goddess in front of me.
She couldn't look more majestic and so powerful than she did now. She wore her black crop top that revealed her mouth water abs, hard enough to wash my clothes in them. She wore skin-tight pants that hugged her figure perfectly, along with a long, white mantle that even the air inside the room blew back as it rolled off her hips and towards the floor. She wore makeup from what I could see as well.
She wore enough mascara and eyeliner to make her eyes look so bright and colorful. They were a forest green color with ocean blue stones around the outline of her iris; it was as if she shared a light green, and aqua color, and golden color as well. Her lips were puckered into an intimidating stare, wearing a velvet rose color, that hinted perfectly with her naturally flushed pale cheeks.
"Lauren." I smile, taking a tentative step forward when I see her lips pull into a large smile, a cute laugh leaving her plump lips. "Camzie."
I rush towards her, not bothering to hesitate as I wrap my arms around her slim waist, burying my face into the crook of her neck, which smelled of a sweet yet strong fragrance. A small laugh is sent into my ear as she too wraps her arms around me in comfort. "I missed you."
She lets go only seconds after and stares at me for a few seconds, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you, even though it's only been a week."
I pull away in time to see her perfect face, the intensity of her appearance making it hard to believe she could be so gentle and sweet.
Her green eyes leave mine momentarily and they narrow a bit curiously at the three girls in front of us. She looks intimidating, yes. But it's weird how she doesn't even try to be, it's just the way she is.
I take a step back to allow the green-eyed girl to get a clear view of the three wizards watching her curiously and surprised to see such beauty I suppose. Dinah looks stunned and seems to be eyeing Lauren like what she's seeing is all a mistake. Her eyes are wide and her cheeks are a small tint of pink.
Normani seems to be gripping onto the bottom of Dinah's robe, staring at Lauren like she'd seen Jesus. She swallows hard and glances at me, a small grin tugging at her lips.
Ally on the other hand looks like a baby chick, staring shyly at Lauren and playing with the collar of her robe. Her cheeks are also as red as Dinah's, but not of stun, it's of pure shyness.
Lauren speaks first, her raspy low voice enough to give me chills, "From what I've heard," She eyes all three girls. "The youngest of all is the tallest and the most enthusiastic of the group. Long dirty blonde locks, playful hazel eyes, defined jawline. Dinah Jane."
Lauren's green eyes meet Dinah's dough brown ones with her sexy, signature smirk, taking a small step forward. She found Dinah's nervous state amusing, I could see, but she teased no more when she turned to look at Normani.
"Ah," Lauren's eyes flash in amusement, recalling all of the hilarious memories I had told her about Normani. "You, my dear, must be Normani. Smooth milk chocolate skin, fierce dark eyes, spicy attitude, and not the mess with I've been told."
Normani smiles shyly, laughing softly at the true description. I smile as well, watching as Lauren begins to take closer steps towards the girls, admiring the new appearances.
"And last of all," Lauren smiles, "Tiny Ally Hernandez. Shortest of all, but the oldest. Very bright, generous, kind heart, and very open-minded. I've heard mostly good things about you. Pleased."
Ally gives an honest smile, "Likewise."
I take a chance to speak next, "Well, that wasn't so bad."
"So far," Lauren chuckles, taking a seat over towards her comfy black bean bag and motioning over for the girls to sit. "You just wait a few minutes from now..."
The girls seem to react with uneasy expressions, glancing at me to make sure what Lauren had said was just a joke. I didn't let them know that yet, because I knew Lauren was only masking her playful side to scare the girls. Though, all three of them seemed genuinely scared.
"Alright." I laugh, shoving Lauren, "Cut it out, I think they're scared enough."
Lauren's hard poker face soon turns into a small smirk then into a large smile, which then turns into small laughter. I smile at her, her cute laugh echoing through the quiet room as she pulls out her wand, "I'm sorry, that was a horrible first impression."
She waves her wand silently around her, nothing else but a single spark being seen for a split second before her entire intimidating outfit is soon turned into a cute outfit friendly enough to charm anyone. There's a bit of fog around her before it all fades out into thin air. Her black top is soon turned into a black and white classic t-shirt, her cape is turned into a black jacket over her slim shoulder, and her black dress pants turned into tight, ripped skinny jeans the color of her dark covers.
The arrogant smirk on her lips is no longer present but replaced into an adorable smile towards the confused girls, "My apologies for being so rude. It was funnier in my head than in person.."
All three girls calm down just a tad, curiously and now surprisingly smiling at Lauren. Dinah speaks for the first time, "Thank god for that...I was starting to wonder where the Lauren inside the journal had gone."
Lauren smiles and turns to look at me, "From what Camila can tell you, I'm much crazier than whatever I wrote in the damn thing."
I roll my eyes, "Annoyingly so.."
She places her wand over the nightstand and sighs, looking over at the girls, "So what do we have planned out for tonight?"
Normani shrugs, "What is there to be planned late at night?"
"There's one thing," Lauren offers, "Why don't we share late-night stories."
"Stories?" I ask her, "Of what?"
"Scary stories!" Dinah spits out, nodding eagerly. "Definitely."
"Wait, no!" Ally pout's slight, shaking her head at the sudden suggestion. "I hate scary stories."
"Ally," Normani sighs, "You're so boring. Come on, at least one scary story."
"Just one?" Lauren asks quietly, eyebrows furrowed sort of pleading. I almost smile at how cute she looked right now. "It won't be that scary."
Ally sighs, "You better be telling the truth. Fine, go ahead"
Lauren grins, "Alright, huddle up then."
We all sit in front of her, flat on the ground, and already looking into her green eyes, anticipation awaiting us. She snaps her fingers softly, eyes looking up at the lights before everything goes pitch black. A small squeal leaves Ally next to me but Lauren shushes her with a small laugh, a small light flashing in between the circle.
I come to realize it's her wand flashing brightly enough to see the rest of the faces, and enough to look into Lauren's beautiful green eyes as she speaks again,
"Once upon a time..."
***
"...-Only to find out, her mother had been dead the whole time, decapitated to be exact. Who had she been with throughout that whole time? That question still remains un- known."
What the fuck.
My eyes widen and I grab her arm, "Wait, was this really a true story?"
"Mhm." She hums, nodding her head, "Most parents don't tell their kids about it because they'll either traumatize the kid or cause the child to begin fearing many things. It's part of growing up here in the Wizarding world though. Kids should know more about these things so they'll be better off protecting themselves, right?"
Dinah nods, "So true. But..where's the girl now?"
"I don't think I should tell you, girls.." Lauren muses, "She's in this very castle but I don't want to scare you."
"No!" Ally tugs my arm, a scared look on her face. "Don't tell me that! Stop!"
Dinah rolls her eyes, waving it off as Lauren had just told her Santa was real, "Yeah right, Jauregui. There's no way, we would have known about this whole story bull crap by now."
"Alright," Lauren sing songs, shrugging softly. "Whatever you say."
I frown, taking a good look at her. Could she be lying? I couldn't tell you.
I'm never the type to believe in things that don't sound right, or that couldn't be true. But hell, anything that has to do with something scary or even slightly creepy, I don't fuck with it.
"You're serious?" I whisper into Lauren's year as Normani and Dinah bicker or whether or not it could be true, and Ally worriedly watching the interaction.
She shakes her head, squeezing my hand softly, "The story most probably is...not sure about the girl being anywhere near this castle, though."
I nod, continuing to stare at the mess of friends in front of me with a small shake of my head. With one last hush, I shove Dinah and warn the other to shut up.
"Can we play a game now? It's only eleven." I ask quietly, wanting to actually do something than listen to some stupid joke that's most probably not true.
"What do you have in mind?" Lauren asks me, offering a small grin.
I shrug, "I don't know, but I'm bored."
"Ooh." Dinah gushes, a wicked grin etching across her slick face. She holds up a finger and pulls her wand out from inside her Gryffindor robe. She holds her wand steadily and I watch, staring at the wooden wand that with only one flick of the wrist, begins to illuminate the darkroom.
She rests the tip of the wand over the carpeted ground and to my surprise, a small, glass bottle almost immediately appears over it, standing upright and ready to use.
I half playfully glare at her, "Spin the bottle, really?"
"Spin the bottle?" Lauren looks curious, head tilted to one side in wonder. "What's that?"
We all stare at her for a few seconds but she only remains quiet, letting us know she indeed not joking but only curious. I glance at Dinah and decide to answer for myself,
"There's one way the kids here like to play it, but we won't be doing any of that sort." I sternly glance at Dinah, who only rolls her eyes, "So this is how we'll play it..."
Lauren nods, grabbing the glass bottle and innocently staring at it and back at me for instructions.
How cute.
"First off, the bottle will remain in between the circle not upright, but horizontally laid over the floor so the top points at each of us. We'll take turns spinning the bottle, and whoever the top lands on, we ask that person something they've never told anyone else before. Like a secret."
She nods, "Easy enough. This is a perfect game for me if I want to know more about your lovely girls. "
"Alright," Dinah grabs the glass bottle, "Let's begin then, ladies."
She places the bottle in between the circle and takes a good look around, stopping on me with an evil small smirk, "Here, Mila. Why don't you start?"
I sigh, "Okay?"
I slowly take hold of the bottle, taking the chance to spin the heavy glass fast enough to land on anybody in the group, although deep down I was hoping it would land at least once on Lauren.
The small bottle rotates in a sloppy circle for nearly four seconds before it begins to come to a slow stop.
Lauren. Please be Lauren...
I almost close my eyes to hide the fact that I wanted it to be her, but I simply stare at the glass, swallowing hard as it slowly begins to stop in front of...
I look up, meeting the eyes of a certain raven-haired girl who gives me a goofy smile.
"Lauren." I grin, "Looks like you'll have to tell us your most prized secret."
She nods, "Okay then." She bites her lip in thought, placing a slender finger over her chin, and looks up into the dark as if the answer would be floating about. "I have one no one knows about, not even Dumbledore himself knows about this."
I stare at her wide-eyed in surprise, all of a sudden more interested in what she had to say, "What is it?"
She takes a good look at all four of us, both eyes narrowed slightly, "Well...as you most probably already know, I'm not allowed out of my dorm. The only reason I can't ever take a single step out of this room is that Dumbledore has set a cast that sets boundaries to where I go. So if I take a single step out of here, it'll be like a rebound, I'll just bounce off like a ball."
We all give interested nods.
"Okay, so back to the secret." She grins, "I know a spell that could totally backfire the spell he set on me and the corridor. I can practically run out of here any time I want."
What in the world...
"Are you serious?" Dinah sits up now, eyeing Lauren for any signs of joke or look of amusement. Lauren only nods, placing her chin over her bent knees with a somewhat sad smile which I frown at.
"Then why haven't you tried to at least once leave instead of being caged up in here, Lauren?" I ask curiously, squeezing the juice box in my hand tightly.
She shrugs, looking down as if she were ashamed of the answer. She lets out a small sigh, running her hand through her hair, "I ask myself the same question everyday, Camila. It's just...somehow I feel selfish with just thinking about leaving."
"You shouldn't feel selfish, though." Ally frowns, pitying the taller girl, "It's for the freedom you deserve."
"No, Ally." Lauren smiles weekly, "It's extremely selfish of me, actually. I can't just think about walking out of here like it's normal. I always somehow think of all of those kids out there. The first-year children, the innocent ones despite the evil ones that roam the castle as well. Every single person here is what keeps me from walking out."
"Why's that?" I whisper ever so softly, placing a hand over her shoulder in a comforting way.
I can hear the need to cry in her voice as she responds, "What if I do walk out here, Camila? What if somehow... he ruins it for me, or tries to kill or hurt somehow out there? I can't ever live with killing anyone else...I cant."
Lauren buries her face in between her knees with a small sigh, fighting the urge to cry in front of us. I feel my eyes blur in tears when I hear her take in a shaky breath, scooting back like a scared puppy.
I don't think twice before wrapping my arms around her shoulders, burying my face into the crook of her neck with a small tender kiss, "I'm sorry, Lauren. We didn't know. I'm really sorry."
All she does is nod as if she can't trust her voice to give me a clear answer. I only continue to hug her, feeling as if I let go, she would only break down in tears. While she begins to recover, I feel a pair of arms wrap themselves around us both.
Then another pair.
And another.
I smile, my eyes remaining closed when I can almost smell each of their cheap perfumes over us. Lauren laughs softly under us, faking lack of air as if she were choking, "You'll choke me to death before we pull away."
I smile as I playfully push Dinah and the rest of the girls off me, sending them tumbling off of Lauren and me onto the ground. They all glare at me and I shrug innocently, "Hey, you just met her. You were only killing her!"
Lauren laughs again, wiping her eyes briefly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the moment. I only wanted you all to know more about me. Things other people don't know about. Others just seem to judge the life I have because of what they hear. And when I met Camila.." She pauses, grinning when she turns to meet my eyes, "I thought I had a chance to show people otherwise, that I wasn't just some crazy freak. It's why I wanted to finally meet you guys. To have people who know me for being...me."
I only continue to grin at the beauty in front of me, realizing she was indeed so brave and so honest. It was strange that someone could judge Lauren because of what they heard. It was just like when I was younger. They would always judge me and tell me that I was only but a weak muggle, and that I would barely make to it my second year in Hogwarts, with no friends to manage with me.
Yet here I was, loving every second of today with my three childhood best friends, and the most beautiful girl I had now realized I was beginning to fall for. And no matter what anyone else thought about the "monster" in front of me now, to me, she was only a stunning, honest, brave, selfless, and compassionate girl that was only as different as I was. And no matter what anyone and everyone says,
To me, she will always be the real Lauren Jauregui.