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CHAPTER FOUR
THE CHEAT
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BETH WOKE UP WITH A start. As she opened her eyes, she instantly saw four sets of eyes looking down at her in confusion and worry. She seemed to have been talking in her sleep, which was something she hasn't done since she was ten years old.
"What?" She asked the four girls who looked at her as if she had been back from the dead.
"You've been saying things, Beth. In your sleep." Said Hannah, while the others nodded at her statement.
"What things?" She scratched her head as she slowly sat up. She took her time stretching as her friends told her about the things she said.
"I don't know. You said, I think, that "they're coming," but I can't be sure." Said Susan. Beth could see slight fear in her eyes once she'd assumed who "they" are, since Susan had trusted Beth ever since their second year at Hogwarts.
"Yeah, are you ill?" Alice held Beth's forehead to check her temperature. Which Beth weakly moved from her head, "I'm fine."
"All right. Just tell us if you've fallen ill, Beth." Susan told her, the worry in her tone was clearly heard by Beth. She just nodded in response. She rolled off her bed, and headed straight to the bathroom.
She washed herself and then brushed her teeth, looking at the mirror as if something was not right. Something has changed and she knew what it was — her dreams. She haven't spoken in her sleep since she started going to Hogwarts. Although she couldn't remember what she had dreamt of at ten years old, she remembered, however, that it was something quite significant to her life.
The dream she had the night before was about her brother, Michael. It showed him battling with himself. He was struggling as if he doesn't know who he is anymore. In her dream, he was anxious and afraid. She didn't understand anything he was saying. The dream had upset her. She was beginning to think that maybe she should take the lessons her grandmother asked her to. She shook her head and tried to forget about the dream for the time being. She went out of the dormitories and headed straight to her first class.
As she was walking through the halls, she saw Hannah and Ernie laughing. On their robes seemed to be a badge that bore the color red, then turned to green moving in a spiral pattern. Once she got closer she saw that the badge had the words "Support Cedric" which then turned into "Potter Stinks".
"What is that?" Beth asked them, her eyebrows furrowed, looking at them as if they had disgusting food stains on their robes.
"Potter Stinks badges, you want one?" Said Hannah, not really expecting for her to join the bandwagon. The disappointed look on Beth's face was very clear to her, but she wouldn't blame her — she was Harry's friend, after all.
"No, thanks." She simply replied.
"Oh, come on, why don't you join the fun? I know Potter's your friend and all—" Said Ernie, stopping her from walking away.
"No." She cut him off, pressing her lips together to form a smile before walking away.
"Beth!" Mary called as Beth passed by her. She walked slower until Mary turned around to catch up to her. When she did, Beth looked back at where she came from and gasped before looking at her expectantly — she was talking to George Weasley — and slapping her arm when she didn't notice the expression she gave her.
Mary looked at her as if there was nothing happening, completely unfazed by the slap on her arm. Beth faked a cough to give Mary a hint of what she was thinking, but Mary still didn't understand. The three of them — being Beth, Michael, and Oscar — have been noticing how close Mary and George have been lately. Beth gave up talking about it since the topic was going nowhere.
"Never mind. Why did you call me?"
"Oh!" Her face lit up at the reminder, she had an excited look on her face. She took Beth's arm and dragged her to the side.
"The Hufflepuff common room," she started as she slightly looked right and left. Beth nodded at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence. "Is located near the kitchen corridor, right?" She asked, looking at Beth expectantly. Beth nodded in response.
"Do you possibly know when the best time to go there without being caught is? At the end of the day, of course."
"Do I want to know why you need this information?" Asked Beth in a playful tone.
"You wouldn't be interested." Mary responded knowingly. "Just like her brother." She thought.
"Well, one way to get in is through the fruit bowl portrait. You have to tickle the pear to get inside," she said as Mary nodded along, "the best time to go is at around eleven-thirty to twelve at night. But don't bring more than one person with you, or it's easier for you the get caught."
"Do you do this often?" Asked Mary after she heard Beth's tips.
"Not really, but I've never been caught before." She said.
The first time she had met Mary was during the summer break of 1988. Not a day over eight years old, their brothers had just gotten into Hogwarts and were both sorted into Gryffindor. The Osbournes — being Mary and Oscar — had spent their summer break with the Hallowells. That summer was the start of Beth and Mary's friendship as well as a pinpoint of Michael and Oscar's.
Three years later, Beth and Mary were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively. With Beth being the first of the Hallowells to be sorted into a different house rather than Gryffindor, and Mary following her late mother's footsteps.
Mary then thanked her and bid her goodbye, as she had a different class to attend. She continued her walk to her class. Just as she thought she was going to walk alone in peace, she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
"Wait up! Where are you heading to?" Called Ron, rushing to walk by her side. Usually, the other two would be beside them but Hermione had Transfigurations and Ron is apparently ignoring Harry — which is something she and Hermione had grown tired of.
"Potions, you?"
"Oh, great timing." He said as he got to her side and matched his pace with hers. "Why are you alone?"
"I don't know. Wanted to be, I guess." She answered.
"Must be annoying to face them, though. Your friends." Said Ron, walking beside her through the halls. Confusing Beth with his statement.
"Meaning?" Asked Beth, raising an eyebrow at the boy.
"Have you not heard what they've been saying about you?" He said as he looked at her.
"No," she said, stopping her steps. A puzzled look was plastered across her face. Ron seemed surprised to know that she had not heard about it.
"Well, then you didn't hear it from me." He said after a couple of seconds and continued walking into class.
"What?"
She followed him into the class and sat next to him, wanting to question him more about what he said. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Have her friends actually been speaking about her badly behind her back?
"Ron," she called him, implying that he should elaborate, whispering loudly as she noticed that Snape was already eyeing every student in the classroom.
"You know. With the Harry thing and all. They think you helped him cheat in the selections." He said in a low tone.
"Why would they —"
"Anyway, I don't think you helped him cheat. You didn't do it, right?" He asked as he looked at her for confirmation. Beth shook her head in response.
"But that's just horrible, you know? Also shows how loyal they can be, though. Hufflepuffs." He continued.
"Huh?"
"They're really sticking up for Cedric, but you guys are having a problem because you're sticking up for Harry," he explained, "which you don't have to do, by the way. It's obvious that he cheated."
"Ron, that's ridiculous. You don't know that." She reasoned.
"Well, then how else was he going to be chosen?" Ron stressed before receiving a hit to the head from Snape, who had clearly been bothered by their chatting.
Ron opened his mouth, shocked, holding the back of his head in pain, while Beth scrunched her face and letting out a small "ooh."
Snape then looked at her as if saying that if they dare to speak again in his class, he wont hesitate to hit them again. Beth bitterly smiled at him in response as he walked away from their table.
✩
At the end of the day, Beth was sitting alone, reading a book in the Hufflepuff common room when she heard the loud whispering of two boys not too far from where she was — interrupting her reading. She recognized the voices as Zacharias Smith and Justin Finch-Fletchley.
The two boys were whispering about how she had helped Harry cheat on the champion selection — which was what she had heard all day. The things Ron had told her was true. 'Her friends' did say false things about her behind her back.
"Don't think I can't hear you talking about me." Said Beth, closing her book.
"To be completely honest, Beth, we just don't know if we can trust you anymore." Confessed Zacharias after he sighed.
"Why not?" She looked his way.
"I mean, with all these things going on, you might as well switch houses." He pressed further, which earned an annoyed expression from Beth.
"What are you talking about?" Beth asked in exasperation but still maintaining her calm, wanting him to stop beating around the bush and cut to the chase.
"We're not stupid, we know Potter cheated and you helped him." Said Justin, agreeing with Zacharias. He had believed the things people had been saying about her.
"I did not!" She retorted.
"Prove it." Said Zacharias, earning a look of disbelief from Beth.
She should've known that it was Zacharias who started the rumor. She was more than mildly outraged by what she's been hearing about herself.
"What is going on?" Asked Cedric, making the three of them look his way. Beth still had the same look on her face while Zacharias took the chance to press further on the topic.
"Haven't you heard? Beth's the one who helped Potter—"
"You let those words slip out of your mouth one last time—"
"All right. That's it for the both of you." Cedric declared, clearly exasperated.
"What, me?" Beth let out in slight outrage.
"Who else? You're the cheat!" Exclaimed Zacharias.
Just as Beth was finally about to give Zacharias a piece of her mind, Cedric stopped her and brought her near the girls' dormitories. Beth, looking very frustrated, turned around and headed to her room.
"Beth," he called, she turned back around to face him with an exhausted look across her face, "you haven't told me what you wanted to say a couple nights ago." He didn't actually want to talk about it, but he wanted to spend a little time with her.
"Right." She sighed, "I'm sorry . . . I just have a lot on my plate right now." She felt bad because she saw his sincerity, but she was tired throughout the whole day. She was more mentally tired than physically, with everything that has been happening.
She would go to sleep and dream of the same thing every night and wake up feeling just as exhausted. The more she tried to ignore her dreams, the more anxious she gets for her brother. Her worry increases overnight. What's worse, she doesn't know who to go to for help and advice.
She couldn't go to Hannah or Susan, Hannah would say that it was only a fever dream and Susan would worry about her — which was something she did not need on her conscience. She couldn't go to Ron or Harry, Ron wouldn't understand what she would say and Harry has his own problems. She could go to Hermione, she fears she wouldn't understand, but her logical thinking might knock some sense into her.
She could go to Mary or Alice, who would both provide her with comfort in their own respective ways, which was something she might actually need. Or she could go to Oscar, the only one other than her and her family who have known Michael his whole life.