I turn around and head to the Slytherin common room with my heart fluttering
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He towers over me like usual, scanning me up and down slowly, and I, once again, find myself craning my neck upwards to see his face. His light brown hair is parted in the middle, and is messy from him running his fingers through it.
I look him up and down slowly, admiring him in the same way he so often does to me.
His cheeks turn a slightly rosy color, making him look a little embarrassed, but he quickly masks it with a confident expression.
He still hasn't spoken yet, so I raise an eyebrow.
"Admiring the view?" I tease, mocking him.
"Like always," he smirks.
I look down at his black and yellow robes, and back up to him with a playful expression on my face.
"You know, Diggory, Slytherin's and Hufflepuff's aren't really supposed to be friends," I tease.
He fakes a dramatic, hurt expression on his face.
"Is that all I am to you? Just a friend?"
I look at him perplexed. I mean, I guess the feelings I get when I'm around him are definitely more than just friendship, but I don't know what else you'd call this.
"What else would you rather be called?" I ask questionably.
A devilish smirk forms on his face, and he puts his lips to my ear.
"As long as your screaming my name before it, anything works,"
My face goes scarlet, causing him to burst out in a fit of laughter.
When he laughs, I notice that his smile could be worth a million dollars, and I don't say things like that lightly. His smile is very boyish and adorable, his eyes squint, and a dimple pops up at the top of his left cheek. His smile is one of the ones that always makes you smile in return, no matter how hard you try not to.
"Ms. Maxwell, Mr. Diggory, what are you two still doing in the hallway? Head to your dormitories, please," McGonagall says as she exits the dining hall.
I look around, and there's no one in the hallway except for us. Huh, I guess I was too distracted to notice there was no more conversation out here besides ours.
"Well, Diggory, it's always quite memorable talking to you," I say sarcastically.
He chuckles and I pull him in for a tight hug.
I pull away and lock my eyes with his one last time.
"I'll see you around?" I ask hopefully.
"I hope so," he smiles.
I turn around and head to the Slytherin common room with my heart fluttering. My cheeks start heating up, and my stomach has butterflies in it, and I know exactly why. It's because of him, and this stupid effect that he has on me.
I reach the portrait door to the common room.
"Pure-blood," I tell the snake painting.
I recall that Malfoy suggested this password to Snape for this year. Not surprising at all.
The door swings open, and I step inside. The main room is just how I remember it from the second movie when Harry and Ron use the Polyjuice potion to look like Crabbe and Goyle, though it's even more beautiful than it's portrayed in the film.
I look ahead, and Draco is sitting by himself on the couch in the center of the room, looking at me expectantly.
"What?" I ask as I walk by him.
"You look pretty nervous," he smirks as he gets up.
Damnit, my cheeks must still be red from talking to Cedric.
"Yeah, whatever," I scoff.
I hear him following behind me up the stairs.
"It wouldn't have anything to do with Cedric Diggory, now would it?" He teases.
I whip around.
"What are you talking about? How did you know?"
He puts his hands up defensively.
"Nothing, I just saw you chatting with him. Lucky guess is all,"
"Ugh, if you tell anyone about this you're a dead son of a bitch Draco," I threaten.
"Of course, no one can know that the great Bella Maxwell got nervous from talking to a boy," he laughs.
"I mean it Draco, seriously, if anyone finds out about this, especially Fred and George, I'll never hear the end of it,"
"Fine, fine," he concedes.
I run up the stairs, through my dormitory, and into the bathroom without stopping to say hi to anyone.
It's bad enough with Fred and George even just assuming I have a thing with Cedric. If anyone confirms it for them, they're gonna do everything in their power to embarrass me as much as possible.
In the mirror, I can see my cheeks are still slightly pink, but it's not too noticeable. For some reason, I look way hotter in this reality. Something about me is so much more attractive than it usually is, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
My hair is still the same. Shoulder-length, dark brown, with auburn highlights. My facial structure is the same as well. What is it?
Maybe nothing has physically changed about me, but instead, the way I see myself has. In this reality, I have a lot more confidence than I do at home. Here, I'm well-liked, I could get almost any guy including Draco Malfoy who would pretty much never go for anyone, and I feel free to say and do what I want without being judged.
I never believed it before when people said confidence changes the way you look, but now I completely understand.
I hope this confidence transfers over when I go back home.
Speaking of, I still need to figure out how to do that. Don't get me wrong, I love it here and I never want to leave, but eventually, my dad and Leah are going to set out an entire search team to find me. Unless at home I'm just sleeping in my bed? I don't know how this shifting thing works, but I'm not taking any chances.
Note to self: when I get home, I need to do more research on this.
I turn on the faucet, and splash my face with the cool water. I take out my hair from its half crown style, and comb through it with my fingers.
I should probably take a shower, it's been a long day.
I remove my winged eyeliner and mascara, then turn on the shower to a scorching hot temperature. I've always loved the burning water for some reason.
I remove my clothes and step in. Instantly, I feel calmer. I finally feel relaxed and free to process my thoughts.
So clearly me shifting here was an accident, but I don't regret it at all. The only thing I do regret is not learning more about it beforehand. I'm not sure how much time passes at home while I'm gone, what happens to my body at home while I'm gone, or even how to get back home in the first place.
I'm not too worried about it though, because I think I can probably get home the same way I came. As for the other two things, I don't really care. I just want to enjoy myself while I'm here, and I'll figure it all out later.
I shower for around another fifteen minutes before I decide to get out, I don't wanna get all pruney.
I wrap my towel around myself, and head to the dorm room that I share with four other Slytherin girls. I remember their names are Kira Fowler, Eleanor Friedman, Aliya Crosby, and Sabrina Finch.
It's weird how I know all of their names and what my relationship is like with each one of them, even though they aren't in the books or movies, and I've never technically met them before.
I put on a t-shirt and sweats I find in my dresser, and I throw my hair up in a messy bun. It seems as if the house elves have already done the work of putting away my stuff. Those creatures are saints. They honestly deserve so much better.
I crawl into bed under my fluffy white comforter.
"So, what do you guys think about the newbies? Can't believe none of them were good enough to be sorted into Slytherin," Eleanor scoffs.
I recall Eleanor's personality just being vulgar all the time. We don't have any issues, and we're pretty close, but she kind of reminds me of a girl version of Draco from the movies.
"Seriously, El? You can't honestly think Slytherin is the best house. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't switch houses even if I could, but 90% of the people locked in Azkaban are from Slytherin. Plus, people are always so quick to stereotype us," Kira replies.
I remember that Kira is my closest girlfriend in Slytherin. I mainly hang out with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise, but if I had to choose a girl to hang out with, it would be her. We have similar personalities, and agree on almost everything.
"Yeah, I agree. I think being a Hufflepuff would be pretty cool..." Aliya trails off.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. You're always talking about how you wish you were a Hufflepuff. Trust me, I can't believe you aren't one either, from the way you're so nice all the time, which by the way, gets really annoying sometimes," Eleanor says in an irritated voice.
Though what she said was rude, it's true. Aliya is super sweet and nice to anyone and anything. She's like a girl version of Neville, which can be annoying sometimes because it's always up to us to stand up for her. Though, you don't necessarily have to be a rude person to be in Slytherin. As long as you're ambitious and would do anything to achieve your goals, you have a chance at being in this house.
"Where's Sabrina?" I ask, trying to change the subject.
"Probably somewhere getting railed by Oliver Wood," Kira snickers.
"Ugh, she's onto Oliver now? That girl can't keep a boy for more than a week, I swear," Eleanor says in a disgusted voice.
Lastly, is Sabrina. She's a pretty nice person, but we aren't super close. She's super crazy and over the top all the time, like if the words "party animal" were a person, it would be her. Though she sounds super fun, she can be very toxic at times, talking sh*t about anyone and everyone, never staying loyal to a person for more than a day, and just being super irresponsible all the time. She's definitely created quite a reputation for herself, as you could probably imagine.
We all chat for a little longer, but eventually sleep overtakes all of them.
I turn off my lamp on my bedside table and find myself looking forward to possibly seeing Cedric the next day, as sleep overtakes me.