Pink in the Night.

Chapter Forty-Five.

"Ouch!" (Y/n) cried, dropping the cursed letter onto the table. A yellowish-green liquid smell strongly of petrol gushed all over her hands, which horrible yellow boils began to erupt over. Three gasps came from the table, but painful tears were clouding (Y/n)'s vision as she blindly tried to wipe away whatever she had been sent.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" Padma said matter-of-factly as Cho picked up (Y/n)'s bag.

"Come on, we're going to Madam Pomfrey's," she said, guiding (Y/n) out of the Great Hall with her hand to the girl's back. "This is really getting out of hand!" she exclaimed. "Why even bother reading them?"

"They're funny!"

"You'll be cursed at this rate, (Y/n)!" Cho exclaimed.

"Wha' happened?" Hagrid boomed. (Y/n) peered up, two tears leaking back to back from her eyes.

"Ah, nothing," (Y/n) said. "You know how nasty wizards and witches get," she added nervously, practically sensing Hagrid's doubt.

"You oughta stop opening 'em," he huffed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That's what I said," Cho agreed. "But she finds them funny."

"Funny? Hateful messages?" Hagrid questioned.

"Very funny. They used clippings from my Daily Prophet subscription this time," (Y/n) beamed. Hagrid gave her an exasperated look.

"Stop opening 'em!" he scolded.

"All right," (Y/n) sighed. "There goes my weekly dose of comedy." Without further comment, she continued towards the hospital wing. "Cho, I don't need your company. Instead, will you tell Professor Trelawney I'll be there when I can?"

"Yeah. I can do that," Cho agreed.

"See you in a week," (Y/n) said, rolling her suitcase behind her. 

"See you in a week," a few voices repeated. 

"And I'll have their wands this time around," (Y/n) mumbled to Hermione, who was the closest of the trio. Hermione beamed.

"Heartbreak girl!" Mattheo Riddle shouted, waving the girl over. (Y/n) gave him a large smile and jogged over, her suitcase still rolling behind her. 

"Heartbreak girl? That's cute," (Y/n) mused, stepping onto the train before Mattheo, who shot her a wry smile.

"Wasn't supposed to be a pet name," he said.

"I like it," (Y/n) said. "Has a nice ring to it. Better than Raventramp, no?" she smirked, letting Mattheo pass her in order to lead her to the other Slytherins.

"Don't call yourself that," Mattheo scolded, stopping relatively short before sliding a compartment open.

"(Y/n)," the Slytherins greeted brightly. 

(Y/n) beamed at them before finding the window seat (reserved especially for her) and flopping into it. "You still coming to the Tonks', Dray?" she asked. Draco nodded. "Brilliant. No surprise adoptions this year, I hope."

"Surprise adoptions," Blaise scoffed in dismay. "Wish you'd stop calling them that."

"What, like being kidnapped and held at gunpoint is a nicer way of phrasing it?"

"Yes! Surprise adoptions makes it sound like you'd eventually be okay with it!"

"You're arguing with a wall, mate," Theodore said, reaching across Lorenzo to clap Blaise's shoulder.

"They'd annoy their kidnapper so quickly," Pansy added, "When my father hears about this—" she said mockingly. The compartment burst into laughter and Draco's lips twitched up. "Mattheo would always find something to complain about and (Y/n) would constantly be giving out her odd facts: 'Did you know tree frogs eat their own skin after they shed?'" she said, her voice higher in order to match (Y/n)'s.