Eyes wide and lower lip trembling, Amisty moved the newspaper closer to herself.
It was Draco and her at the lake, when he had dropped her down next to him, her head on his shoulder, their hands clasped.
Tainted Romance
Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, has made countless friendships with many other students during his four years at Hogwarts. One, in particular, being another orphan named Amisty River, a pretty girl with a foul temper and a tendency to speak without thinking. According to accounts from many Gryffindor students, such as Colin Creevey, it's very hard to find the two of them separated inside or out of the castle.
Imagine the horror when poor Harry discovers that his beloved friend has been in a forbidden relationship with none other than Slytherin pureblood Draco Malfoy, his rival. The blossoming romance between the two of them clear with sightings spanning from the teenagers embracing each other at the banks of the Great Lake to dancing in secret during the Triwizard Tournament Yule Ball. In fact, many letters have been exchanged between the two of them. (See below)
Amisty couldn't swallow as she kept reading. She could barely be relieved that there was no mention of her heritage. Her letter -- her private letters -- thrown around for everyone to see.
Clearly, this relationship seems to be as innocent as it could be, despite the two being former enemies.
"Amisty and Malfoy?" Says Lavender Brown, a Gryffindor in her year. "They've hated each other since first year, almost as badly as Harry hates Malfoy. You can't find them in the same room without insults -- or hexes -- being thrown around."
But this innocent connection has been tainted. Though Amisty thinks its been kept a secret, hidden and safe and perfect, it's far from that. Draco Malfoy, the charming and rather handsome Slytherin fourth year, has been fooling her since the beginning.
"Fancying her? Unlikely," Pansy Parkinson, Draco's true girlfriend, says. "He's talked to me about this. It's to get her walls down, get her to spill her secrets and then use them against her. She's just so starved for attention she hasn't realized it."
And then the words were too blurry for her to see them, and she realized she was crying.
"Oh, Amisty," Hermione whispered, and the raven-haired girl buried her face in her friend's shoulder.
"I'm such an idiot," She mumbled, her voice muffled and choked. "I don't know why I ever thought it was real. What was I thinking?"
"So Skeeter wasn't lying? This was real?" Ron snapped, the sound of paper crinkling reaching her ears. "She's been romping around with that git?"
"Ron!" Hermione snarled.
"I thought you hated him, Amisty, what happened?" Harry demanded, and she winced at the lack of the nickname.
"He's been helping her with her shifting," Hermione replied, eerily calm in the sea of anger.
"I-I'm sorry," Amisty forced out, rubbing her eyes in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of tears. "I really thought -- I don't know -- I'm so stupid!"
And she ran up to the dormitory, slamming and locking the door behind her, ignoring her friends shouting her name.
The bed shuddered as she threw herself down, groaning and creaking and she was certain she heard something crack. But that was the last thing on her mind.
The burning feeling in her chest was what dominated her thoughts.
The feeling of her heart shattering into a million pieces.
-=+=-
"Amisty," Hermione called, knocking on the door even harder. "Amisty, please unlock the door!"
"Go aw-way, Hermione!" Amisty sobbed, her voice muffled and broken.
She had shoved her face into a pillow in an attempt to hide her tears.
"Fine. Alohomora!"
And Hermione burst in, harried and concerned as she closed the door and hurried to Amisty's bed.
"I'm going to murder that prat," The brunette declared furiously, rubbing Amisty's shuddering shoulders in a comforting manner. "I'm so sorry, Am."
She let out a sort of choked laugh, turning away from the pillow, "It's all my fault anyway, I should've known it was just to humiliate me."
Her eyes were red and puffy, tear tracks staining her pink cheeks.
A wan smile pulled on her lips, but her bottom lip was trembling and her eyes were dull and dark.
"It's not your fault. It was never your fault," Hermione insisted passionately, squeezing her tighter. "Malfoy was a git and he hurt you, not the other way around, Am. Anyone would have fallen for that."
"But I did, and now Harry and Ron hate me," She mumbled.
Hermione didn't seem to have an answer for that.
"I should never have let this go on for so long. I knew it was a horrible, horrible idea but I still went and did it anyway, didn't I?"
"Ami -- "
"I let my guards down and started to fancy him, and now I've lost two of my best friends," She buried her face into her pillow, breaking out into tears once more.
"Amisty, they don't hate you -- " Hermione started to protest.
"I broke their trust, Hermione!" Amisty cut her off furiously. "I went off with Harry's rival and a boy who constantly demeans Ron and you!"
"He made you happy, at least when you thought it was real, and once they realize that they're not going to be mad. You're still you, Amisty River, even with this mistake you've made, and they'll remember that soon enough," Hermione countered, suddenly sounding very stern.
"If they were truly your friends in the first place they'll learn to forgive you, and once this all blows over, well, I'm certain you'll be the last person they'll be mad at."
-=+=-
Amisty was eating alone, not even in the Great Hall. She had tried, with Hermione's support, to try and talk to Ron and Harry to have them ignore her entirely.
So there she was, sitting alone in an empty classroom with a plate one of the house-elves had brought her.
It had been a miserable few days, even if she had somewhat managed to get over it.
Quite a few Howlers came her way, enough to the point she had a pile of ashes sitting at the foot of her bed and a constant ringing in her ears.
The ones that hurt the most were the ones accusing her of only being after him for his fortune, like some petty thief.
She had grown out of that stage of her life, she didn't steal anymore and she never would. It didn't help that there was a copious amount of people shoving her, tripping her, hurting her in the hallways.
She was getting quite fragile, always on the brink of tears.
A shadow of what she formerly was, in ways.
Her head down, gaze fixed firmly on her shoes and arms hugged tight to her chest. She stuck to the outskirts of the corridors, rarely spoke up in class, tried taking the back hallways as much as she could manage.
No one seemed to notice, and even if they did they certainly didn't care.
After all, she was just the stupid, attention-deprived girl who fell for Draco Malfoy's charms.
Scraping her fork against her plate miserably, her head fell into her folded arms, food long forgotten.
She hadn't touched it much, anyway. She hadn't eaten very much in the past few days, period.
"Amisty?" A hesitant voice called from the doorway.
So lost in her own misery she hadn't bothered listening for the door.
"Go away," She replied instantly, the fight gone from her voice.
Whoever was there didn't listen, and she felt herself bristle at the sound of footsteps.
"I said, go aw -- " She started to snarl, looking up with a furious glare when her face fell and her clumsily repaired heart shattered yet again.
The words died in her throat.
Draco looked very pale, his jaw set and eyes concerned as he moved closer, still having yet to say anything more than her name.
She turned away, hugging her knees to her chest and refusing to look at him.
Too painful, too overwhelming to see the boy who broke her walls and then her heart.
He took a seat a few feet away from where she was, perched on the edge as if prepared to take flight.
"Amisty, I — " He began.
"Don't," She growled, head still turned determinedly to the side. "Don't try to defend yourself."
His fingers brushed against her elbow and she jerked away as if she had been electrocuted.
Her eyes were blazing with green fire, mouth pulled down in a furious snarl. He had the decency to look ashamed.
"Please," He dropped his hand back to his lap, "let me explain."
"Explain what, exactly?" She spat out, gripping the edge of her desk so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "How you tricked me into thinking you actually cared about poor little orphan Amisty? How you were off dating Pansy behind my back? How all this was to you was some petty prank because I ticked you off in first year?
"Or have you come to gloat in my face. How you made me fall for you? How you ruined my friendship with Harry and Ron? How the whole school hates me?!"
"I didn't — "
"I TRUSTED YOU!" She shrieked.
And suddenly she was standing, facing him full on, and trembling and her hands smacked the desk loudly.
"I TRUSTED YOU AND LET MYSELF FALL FOR YOU AND LOOK WHERE THAT GOT ME! OUTCASTED AND RUINED!"
Her voice broke suddenly. "I'm back on the streets in the one place I called home."
She was shaking violently, her adrenaline from her shouting disappearing and leaving her to feel the full force of her transformation.
He hurried toward her, holding her forearms gently, "Amisty, Amisty please calm down."
"Don't touch me," She hissed, it coming out more like a whimper.
"Get away from her, Malfoy," An achingly familiar voice ordered from the doorway. "You're hurting her."
"You have no idea what you're talking about, Potter," Draco spat back, refusing to leave her.
Harry came closer, forcefully pulling him away, "Maybe I don't, but I do know that you've hurt her, so I suggest you leave now."
"I'm not — "
"Now, Malfoy."
The blond cast a furious glare around the room, his gaze resting on Amisty for a millisecond linger before sweeping out of the room, his eyes shining.
"Harry, Harry I'm so sorry," Amisty sobbed, clutching to him as if he were a lifeline. "I'm so stupid, I'm so, so stupid."
"It's okay, Am, it's okay," He soothed, holding her tight, his chin resting on her head as he rubbed her arms gently. The burning subsided. "I overreacted."
"I should never have -- I just -- I didn't -- " She stumbled to put her thoughts into words.
"I know," He replied softly.
"I'm sorry," She mumbled.
"I'm going to kill him," He muttered darkly, his grip tightening slightly. She winced. "Sorry."
"Harry, I know you're upset, but..." Her voice trailed off, and she couldn't quite meet his eyes.
His voice was a bit stiffer when he replied, and she was really starting to wish she was a better liar. "You still care about him, don't you?"
She nodded meekly, swallowing hard.
"I really am trying not to, but it's... it's hard."
"I'll never understand why you ever fancied him, Am, but I'll try and respect it," He replied.
"Thank you," She smiled.
"And if he ever hurts you again, there's no amount of pleading you can do to keep me from hexing him until he can't remember a thing," He added.
"I'm sure I'll be joining you then," And she was smiling properly now, her eyes regaining a bit of their old sparkle.
"Glad to know that."
Dramaaaaa~ Whoo! There we go, very dramatic, very angsty, as all fourteen-year-olds are. Annnnnd, that's all I really have to say. Thanks for reading!