Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 115

"All right, that should be enough for today's class," said Professor Flitwick from where he stood upon the pile of books that he used in order to make himself taller.

He gave a swish of his wand and made the toads on the students' desk fly toward the large box near him, which the students had been trying to charm into singing.

"And don't forget," the short professor yelled over the sound of the students packing, "you must turn in your essays after the break. Happy Christmas to you all."

The chattering class stood from their seats once Professor Flitwick dismissed them, quickly packing their stuff so they could leave the room as fast as possible to get to lunch.

     "That's so unfair!" Diana raved as her and Layla walked out of the classroom and made their way down the hallway. "McGonagall gave us two essays, so did Slughorn, and today Flitwick gave us more to do during the holidays. Not to mention we have a Defense Against the Dark Arts test as soon as we return from break! I know I'm not one to ever experience the whole Christmas spirit back at home, but I would still appreciate some time off to rest! Ugh! Stupid N.E.W.Ts."

     No reply.

     Diana frowned, looking sideways at her friend. "Layla? Are you even listening to me?"

     "Huh?" Layla muttered distractedly.

     "What's on your mind?" Diana mused.

    "Yeah. Totally. Same." Layla nodded quickly, looking somewhere down the hall.

     She still wasn't listening.

Diana followed her gaze, realizing that Layla was staring at a group of girls who were walking a few feet ahead of them, talking to each other.

"LAYLA!" Diana suddenly yelled out, finally catching her attention.

"Merlin's beard! You scared me!" Layla placed a hand over her heart, giving Diana a look.

"No. It's you who's scaring me." Diana shook her head. "Can you please tell me what's up with you?"

Layla sighed, running a hand over her forehead. "I don't know... it's just..."

"Yes...?" Diana tried to encourage her to carry on, but the problem seemed to be more dire than Layla could put to words.

"Never mind." Layla gave a shake of her head, and Diana noticed the sudden change on her expression. She had gone from a daze to an unavoidable sadness.

"Please just tell me what's wrong." Diana tried to push the matter, knowing very well that if Layla didn't speak up and bottled it all up, she would end up overthinking everything and inevitably making the problem seem worse in her head. "Please?"

"Nothing."

"Come on!"

"It doesn't matter!"

"You're obviously in the middle of an internal crisis! If you could just tell me what's wrong, maybe I could help you figure things out!"

Layla huffed out and stopped walking, turning to face Diana with a decided look. "It doesn't matter, okay?" she repeated, more firmly this time.

"No, not okay!" Diana said stubbornly. "Look, you can trust me. You're my best friend, and I love you, and I would do anything you want."

"Well, I want you to mind your own business."

"Absolutely not."

Layla let out a small laughter. "You're impossible, you know that?"