The next day was our second quidditch match and Fred's arm was so close to being healed that he offered to play one handed. Fred had been bandage free since before dinner the night before. Wood wouldn't let him risk getting further hurt saying how we can beat Hufflepuff with one beater.
We all woke up super early and ate breakfast together. Fred came in the dining hall wearing red and gold face paint with a lion painted on the side of his cheek. He kept saying how if he wasn't allowed to play he would be the biggest fan. He also kept saying how he wasn't angry but we all knew he really was.
Fred left us to all get changed and wished us good luck. We got into the changing room and Wood gave us his general speech about effort and stamina.
We walked onto the pitch seeing the largest crowd so far. Everyone was wearing either red or yellow face paint in honor of the two teams. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were wearing red and Slytherin and Hufflepuff yellow.
Before we mounted our brooms I saw Fred in the stands holding a huge sign that switched between 3 names, Harry, George, and Arabella. I laughed and pointed to show George and Harry. We all found it quite amusing. The game went fairly smooth until I looked up to Harry. After the dementors last game, Harry almost fainting again, and Fred falling off his broom I wasn't having any repeats.
Harry had a look of fear plastered on his face as dementors sat on the bottom of the quidditch pitch. When I looked back to Harry he was gone.
"Expecto Patronum!" echoed from the bottom of the pitch where a bright light shone.
Harry caught the snitch and won the game right after. The dementors ended up being Draco in a cloak, pathetic.
That night in the common room there was an after party. It was mainly Gryffindor with a few Ravenclaw and even a Hufflepuff girl there to celebrate.
It was pretty much a "Harrys the best!" party but I didn't mind. He did win us the game and defend himself against fake dementors. Wood and George had harry on their shoulders while Katie and I stood at the snack table and cheered.
Katie gasped when she saw Cedric Diggory across the room. She ran over and apologized to me for leaving me.
"Just to be clear, you were just as incredible as Harry." Fred said, leaning on the punch table.
I smiled and thanked him when people started clearing out a bit. There was mainly the team, a few boys, and a few girls.
The girls called me over to talk about Fred when Lee Jordan called out, "Lets play truth or dare!" The boys all sat in a circle while the girls stood by the punch station still chattering on.
"Alright ill go first! Freddie, truth or dare." Lee said.
"Oh goodness, truth." Fred said. The boys all laughed as Lee thought up a truth.
"Who and what did you smell in your Amortentia." Fred shot a glance at me and made eye contact. We both looked away awkwardly and Fred stuttered.
"Well Mr. Jordan, I smelled perfume, old books, and campfires. But I dont know who it is." All the guys groaned and started yelling at Fred.
"yes you do Freddie! Tell us!" George said.
"Alright, I have an idea. Ill give you a hint" The guys fell silent at this sentence. No surprise here but so did the girls.
"She is a witch" Fred said and all the boys groaned once again.
"I'm getting punch so dont hold up." The boys kept playing as Fred walked over to the table.
"Girls have I shown you my new book?" Katie said, pushing the girls away. They all hustled away leaving me alone by the punch.
"I dont mean to eavesdrop Fred but who is it?" I asked. Fred smirked and sighed.
"Who was yours?" he asked as we sipped on the fruit punch.
"Wouldn't you like to know." I said with a small smile on my face.
"I would actually." I looked down to my cup and thought if I should tell the truth or not.
"Don't tell any of the guys because I want them to guess but I'm pretty sure I know who mine is." Fred said to me. I stuck out my pinky and intertwined it with his.
"umm... I think mine is.." Fred hesitated. I had never wanted him to say my name more than I did then. If I had that sorting hat on right now, It wouldn't be me thinking about Gryffindor, it would be all Fred.
"I'm pretty sure it's... Katie" he said with a sad look on his face.
"I mean she's always in the library you know, and all of her uhh time in the outdoors." He nodded and was tracing the rim of his glass with his fingertip.
"Who is yours?" he asked me.
"Oh, mine. yea right. Cedric" I said, tears welling in my eyes. I knew I was lying but for the first time I couldn't tell if he was lying to me.
"I better go, you know its getting late." I said. Fred nodded and I walked over to Katie and Angelina.
"He said it was you Katie. So I lied and said Cedric." Katie hugged me and as we left the hug we saw Fred and George staring at us. I threw a smile on my face to try to not make it so obvious and told the girls goodnight. I headed up the spiral staircase to my room and as soon as I shut the door tears welled up in my eyes.
I cant believe I was so foolish to actually believe Katie and George. It was probably some prank George thought up. I tossed and turned all night as the party went on. Katie and Angelina finally came up late into the night talking about god knows what in a whisper.
"I'm gonna beat the bloody life out of that boy. Making her feel like that all for what? Him to say it was me? Even if it was a lie, He deserves to be sent into the Forbidden Forrest." Katie said in a heated whisper.
"You never know if he lied because he didn't know what Bella would say. You know how sensitive Fred can be about stuff like that. When Wood cut him for grades last year he just about jumped from the astronomy tower." Angelina said. They continued talking for quite some time. I finally dozed off when Katie was talking about her conversation with Cedric by the fire.
I woke up the next morning feeling like I just got hexed by Lord Voldemort himself. I threw on my uniform and put my hair into a messy bun. There were no classes today to let everyone prepare for Halloween and the middle of term tests.
I walked down to the great hall fairly late with little to no appetite. When I got down there not many students were left. I looked around to see Katie sitting with Cedric, Angelina with the Ravenclaw's and just to my luck Fred and George bickering by themselves at the Gryffindor table.
I decided to skip out on sitting with Fred today as I didn't think I could make eye contact with him without bursting into tears. I walked right past them and sat with Percy, their older brother. As much as I hated him, he doesn't make me cry.
"Good morning Percy," I said as Fred waved me over. "How was your night?" I asked.
Percy started blabbering about prefect duties as always and my mind started to wander. I sipped my tea and shuffled the breakfast around on my plate. Most of the students had cleared out and now it was Percy and I at one end of the table and an earshot away was the twins. I listened to Percy for about 3 minutes until I got desperately bored and decided to leave.
"I hate to interrupt Percy, but my grade in potions is slipping far too much for me too dilly-dally. Must get to the library, you understand dont you?" I said, my grade in potions was over 95%, highest in the class. I gathered my things and grabbed the last muffin.
"I totally understand! Got to keep those grades up to be a prefect next year!" Percy shouted looking pleased for encouraging one of Hogwarts most "troubled" students find their way.
"Oh of course! I'm really hoping to be a prefect, looks good on resumes." I said, breaking eye contact with Percy as I walked away. I tossed my muffin in the air a few times before leaving the hall.
"She's lying. Her grade in potions isn't bad at all" Fred whispered to George.
"And Bella would never be a prefect" George added.
I walked up to the common room and decided to grab my broom and sneak onto the roof. It was after all one of my favorite spots on the grounds.
There were never any teachers and it was fairly quiet. I grabbed a fairly large book called The Mind of a Dark Wizard: a deep dive into the thought process of some of the most cruel by Theresa Kilpshod and headed up to the roof. I mounted my broom stick and flew as high as I could. I landed on one of the flattest parts of the roof and sat.
It was the best few hours I've wasted in a long time. I also brought a quill, parchment, snacks, and the small music box I bewitched to play a loop of my favorite songs. After a few hours the sound of the students outside started to dim and the sun was directly above. It must've been lunch. I pulled out the snacks I brought up and ate and read. I closed the book as I finished and then pulled out the parchment and wrote a letter to my dad.
Dear dad,
Schools been a little rough lately. I got out of the school today and read on the roof. We made Amortentia in class this week, and for the first time I smelled something. I would've written sooner but its been crazy. We won in quidditch and had a party in our common room. Cant wait to see you next holiday. I need to talk in person. I love you.
- Arabella
I closed the envelope and scrawled out a messy dad on the front with my home address. I slipped it in my robes and got down from the roof and flew to the post room. I attached it to an owl and sent it off.
"Oh hey, where have you been?" Fred asked from behind me. I spun around and my eyes instantly welled with tears.
"Oh umm, the roof." I said as a tear fell down my face.
"Oh, wh-" Fred started until he noticed the tear. He pulled down his sleeve and wiped the tear from my eye.
"I'm fine, just homesick" I said, looking at my shoes.
I walked down to the dining hall by myself.
I stole dinner from the great hall and put some bread into my pocket. Fred was sitting with George and got up to try and grab my attention but before he could I walked out from the great hall. I grabbed my broom and went back onto the roof.
Maybe I was being to harsh to Fred, but either way I knew more now than ever that I liked him more than just friends. My favorite part about dinner was how the roof of the great hall looked with the stars, but sitting on the roof is even better. As I ate the smuggled bread I heard a loud noise and a grunt. I turned to find Fred sitting next to me.
"We need to talk" Fred said.
"I dont know what you're talking about. Its getting late." I said, turning to leave.
Fred grabbed my hand again and spun me around to face him. "yes you do. We both know" We were inches away again and he let go of my hand.
"Why have you been ignoring me" he asked.
I looked to the ground and said, "I have to go Fred." He shook his head.
"I get that you have this reputation of being the bad girl who sets fires to offices and brings hell to teachers but if were going to be friends, you need to talk to me. I love you too much to lose you over something so stupid, I just want to know what happened." I nodded and turned to him with tears in my eyes.
"Im so sorry." I said bawling and he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug.
"Its okay. Its okay. We aren't gonna lose each other, okay?" he said holding me in the hug.