reputation - (h.p.)

1.10 . i'm not alone. you're here now.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

AS IT TURNED OUT, THAT night had been an indication of how the next several weeks were to go. Gaia felt as if she was barely getting by. To start, they were at the point in the semester where material became harder and grades got poorer. Though she didn't speak to Draco at school, she was well aware that he was doing much better than her in most of their classes, and that she would be receiving an earful about it at the manor that holiday. 

       Aside from her academic slump, the Triwizard Tournament was creating a whole world of problems for Gaia and her friends. Still, no one was in support of Harry being a champion, Ron included. Gaia and Hermione had spent several nights in their dorm room having exhausted conversations about how they could get the boys back to being friends again, coming up with nothing. 

       To top it all off, with the first task drawing ever nearer, the flashy and personally invasive journalist for the Daily Prophet, Rita Skeeter, had made Harry her personal muse for her latest story. The woman had twisted many of his long pauses and frustrated grumbles during their private interview into far more eloquent and emotionally vulnerable phrases that Harry Potter would never say. 

       "'I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them.'" Hermione read a portion of the story out loud to Harry and Gaia at breakfast the morning it came out. 

       "Harry, I'm so sorry you never felt like you could tell me this," Gaia said as she turned to him, feigning genuine empathy. 

       "Sod off," Harry dismissed, shoving her side with his shoulder. In Ron's absence, Harry had elected to fill the redhead's usual seat next to Gaia, leaving the two of them seated next to each other and Hermione across from Gaia, which the older girl preferred given that she often needed the extra table space for her many books. 

       The one thing Gaia felt could lighten her slump was the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade. The girl had never been, seeing as she didn't have anyone with whom she would spend the time, so she was especially excited for her first trip to be with Harry and Hermione. When she shared this excitement, however, the only response was a panicked look in both of her friends eyes as they stared at each other briefly. 

       "Er..." Harry muttered as he tried to think of some sort of excuse for why they wouldn't be able to spend the trip with Gaia. They couldn't tell her the real reason of course - she had no idea that his godfather, with whom they had planned a visit during the field trip, was an innocent man. "We actually... erm-"

       "Your birthday!" Hermione blurted. "We're shopping for your birthday presents and we can't give those away, of course!"

       The weight of deflation that had first flashed through Gaia's chest melted into a bubble of surprise and joy. She had never been given birthday presents before. Unless, of course, one was counting those from Lucius and Narcissa, which usually consisted of books and, if she was lucky, some piece of jewelry from her aunt. 

       "My birthday's not for almost a month," she replied. "And besides, you don't really have to get me anything. I would be happy with-"

       "Oh no, we're getting presents," Harry insisted, quickly hopping onto Hermione's lie. "But, we just don't know if there will be another Hogsmeade trip before then, so... we have to be sure to get something now!"

       So as the day of the trip rolled around, the trio walked to the village together and decided to have a quick butterbeer together, before Hermione insisted they needed to leave right then to find a present.