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Adeline replayed her meeting with Pansy over and over. She barely paid any attention to any classes or her friends. The one time she saw Pansy in the corridor, time froze. They made eye contact for a split second before Pansy turned to a friend.

The students in the Great Hall were loud. Adeline sat, a hand weaved into her hair, as Isaac argued with Nina over something pointless. The four spent most of their meals like this. Dessa chimed in when necessary, and Adeline watched. She felt distant from the others, though. They seemed miles away even when they stood face to face with her. She felt hollow, empty. Her mind whirled with questions and confusion as it focused on one sole thing.

Dessa punched her shoulder, knocking her into the second year beside her. "You absolute dick," she groaned, turning to the kid. "I'm sorry about my friend." The young girl nodded quickly at Adeline before pushing herself off the bench and heading for the door. The students stared at Adeline. She felt her heart pounding in her throat as their eyes crashed down on her like a tidal wave. The air became thicker and she wanted out. Nina stared at them, her Prefect badge hidden beneath her hair. Adeline shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her hand finding Dessa's behind her.

Isaac pushed himself up, slamming a hand down on the table. The kids in yellow jumped at the sound, the rest of the Hall going silent. The houses now watched the four Hufflepuffs intently. Whispers flooded the space around them as Isaac pulled Nina up. Adeline stood with Dessa, avoiding the gaze of everyone desperately. They hurried into the corridor, stopping Adeline from moving.

"What the fuck just happened?" Isaac combed a hand through his hair, staring at Adeline. She shrugged with a deep sigh.

"I don't know," she said. "All I did was apologize to the girl Dessa made me knock into." Isaac watched her, looking to Dessa for help.

"She looked terrified, but why?" Nina leaned on the wall next to Adeline with her arms crossed tightly. Dessa shrugged.

Adeline panicked. She knew if that one person saw her meet Pansy, it'd be over. They weren't supposed to converse, let alone meet in an empty classroom in the evening. It looked suspicious on its own, Adeline knew that. She played every possible scenario in her loud mind, latching her grip onto the edge of her robe sleeve. Pansy and Adeline had been put into two different worlds, never meant to collide. A collision between the two worlds would be catastrophic--danger and chaos would ensue. One small moment, one shared gaze, one word would set it off track.

She shook her head, her hair falling over her shoulders. "We'll just say, for our sake, the poor kid was scared because we're older," Nina breathed out. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"Can we go? I told myself I'd finish all the homework right after dinner," Dessa smiled. Isaac rolled his eyes, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Can't keep the school whore on edge," he chuckled, pulling her down the corridor. Nina placed a hand softly on Adeline's shoulder as she bit back laughter at Isaac and Dessa.

"Don't stress about it, Ad." Her eyes were locked on the girl as she watched the other two vanish around a corner. Nina rubbed her shoulder briefly and began walking, letting Adeline follow. The sun was setting behind the stained glass windows of the castle, casting colorful light onto Adeline's face as she slowly walked after Nina. Her face was contorted into a look of pain and confusion. Her nails dug into her palms, nearly drawing blood, and her teeth gnawed at her lip. Her head pounded with guilt as she pictured the Slytherin. Pansy fucked with Adeline's head. The realization hit her like a train and she stopped in her tracks. She took shallow breaths as her eyes darted around the empty corridor.

Pansy Parkinson is bad news.

Adeline ran a hand down her arm quickly, trying to wipe away the feelings that swept over her. She continued walking on toward the common room with her hands laced together. Voices echoed in her head as she took small, slow steps. The castle spun around her, making her stumble over her own feet.

Stop thinking about her.

She shook her head vigorously.

She's horrible.

Nothing was making sense. She lost all connection with reality, all five of her senses shutting down and leaving her vulnerable to the things around her. It felt like hours of walking through the spinning hallway, her mind screaming things at her while she tried to navigate her way to safety.

A hand latched onto her forearm and an echo of a voice played in the back of her mind. Her eyes widened, trying to identify who had grabbed onto her. All that was visible was black hair, a second person behind them as they held Adeline up. Their voice tried to break the barrier in her brain. She felt her feet move, but still had no sense of where she was going. All she knew was Pansy was bad for her.





".. That's too long," a voice ripped through Adeline's brain. Her eyes fluttered open and scanned the area. Dessa stood over her, a hand placed on her head. "Merlin, she's awake." She let out a sigh of relief and stood up from the large bed.

"I told you. My Abuela does this for my brother," Nina said. "Why would you doubt me?" Adeline looked between the two, the tension thick.

"When can I meet your Abuela?" Dessa smiled at Nina, sucking up to her as Nina rolled her eyes.

"When you learn how to not be a dick."

Dessa flashed a sarcastic smile at Nina before returning her attention to Adeline. Her eyes were filled to the brim with worry as she stared into Adeline's eyes. Her hand was gripping onto Adeline's hand as her face came closer to the girl's.

"Are you okay? What happened? Are you going to be able to go to class later? Its been five hour-"

"Va te faire foutre, elle a besoin de repos, crétin." Nina smiled at Dessa, pulling her off of Adeline. "Ahora vete antes de que te dé un puñetazo en la nariz." Dessa looked up at Nina with a wide grin.

"I love it when you go all 'I'm trilingual and speak pretty languages' at us," she chuckled. "What did you say?"

"I said 'She's tired and needs rest' in French and 'Give her some space' in Spanish." Dessa snorted and shook her head.

"Now I know that's not what you said but I'll pretend it is." Adeline's lips curled into a small smile in reaction to their banter. "Alright, alright I'm going! I'll see you later, Ad." Dessa disappeared behind the door. Nina looked back at Adeline and her smile dropped.

"Are you okay? I don't wanna press you for information but you scared the shit out of us." Her voice was quiet and shaky. She walked toward the bed and sat on the edge, looking at the things on the bedside table. Adeline took a deep breath, mustering up all her mental strength to make up a quick lie good enough to fool Nina.

"I'm okay. Just tired and stressed," she muttered. Nina's eyes dropped to Adeline's face. Behind the bright blue of her irises was fear and worry. Adeline gulped and tore her eyes away from Nina's.

"Okay," she said. "You can stay in here if you want. The bed is big enough so I don't mind. Its better than going back to a shared dorm in the dark, anyway." Nina forced a smile.

Her private Prefect dorm was given to her last year. The large room had its own bathroom and a closet. One wall had a huge window, looking out at the trees ahead. The room smelled of fresh food, being the closest to the kitchens. The aroma traveled throughout the Hufflepuff dorms, but was stronger in this particular room. Nina had done well with decorating. Her family had sent several packages and envelopes of pictures for her to use. It definitely beat shared dorms.

Nina made her way around the bed and slid under the blanket. "If you need anything, say something." She still sounded shaken up. Deep inside her brain, she didn't want to look away from Adeline. She had seen that before from her brother. It was something the family discussed frequently, though kept it in secret between the adults. She gripped the thick blanket and rolled onto her side, keeping her guard high in case something happened.

Adeline forced her eyes closed and took a shaky breath in. In her dreams, there was still yelling.

Hell had broken loose.

eternally mine | pansy parkinson✔Where stories live. Discover now