Bagsy Beetlehorn and the Vampire Affairs (The Bagsy Chronicles 4)

A Debut

Mezrielda had decided that the day of the first Vampire Affairs episode was insufferable. Not only was there no escape from the tacky décor the school had covered itself in, but the students all blindly blundered on and on about it.

Down one corridor Mezrielda heard the mutterings of how long each episode would be. In the courtyard, where students should be enjoying nature, there was the bubbling idiocy of questions like 'I wonder what outfit they'll put Bites in?' or 'do you think there will be any kissing scenes?'. As far as Mezrielda was concerned, it poisoned the otherwise pleasant atmosphere.

The worst part was that the entire affair had evidently been making Bagsy feel awful. Mezrielda cold tell. Bagsy didn't exactly keep her emotions under lock and key. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, pulling her robes protectively around herself like a blanket, and ducking into rooms to take breaks from the constant attention. It was as if Bagsy was a block of ice, and the stares a blazingly hot light, melting her into a puddle of incoherent stutters and stammers.

It was relief on Bagsy's face that Mezrielda saw, not apprehension, when she left to go to the acting troupe's tent. She was so relieved to be free from the attention that going to a troupe who'd likely stolen a girl was a reprieve.

Moments before the episode was to air, Mezrielda sat on her favourite armchair in the Slytherin common room. It was the most comfortable, and though Tod had stolen it from her in first year, despite Mezrielda having claimed it originally, he'd agreed to give it back to her at the end of their last year. As horrid as Tod Alden was, he'd stayed true to his word and if anyone dared sit in her chair Mezrielda need only hiss to remind them who it belonged to.

The low backed green sofas and chairs of the Slytherin common room had all been moved to face a large stone wall that, courtesy of other students whose time wasn't as important as Mezrielda's, was cleared of paintings and tapestries. The paintings hadn't been pleased, but they were paintings, what could they do?

Generously, or so the other Slytherins thought, Live Picture Productions had provided them with a Live Picture Projector 2.0, as they had to each of the houses, so they could enjoy the show. The projector was made from circular pieces of metal that spun with annoying whizzing noises. It wasn't anywhere near as tasteful as the underwater-shipwreck atmosphere the rest of the common room worked so hard to convey. Live Picture Productions didn't have good sense in shows to adapt or design, Mezrielda concluded.

Frustrated, Mezrielda forced down a shiver. Before she lost her memory of her spells, she could cast a warming charm on herself. It was frightfully easy to do. Now, she had to put on a stiff upper lip when it came to the infamous Slytherin common room chill; using a blanket was a sign of weakness, as far as she was concerned. It was a bitter reminder that the Mezrielda who existed in the Slytherin common room this year might as well be an entirely different person from the one previously.

'Could you chew with your mouth closed?' Mezrielda snapped at one of the younger Slytherins, who was practically inhaling his popcorn.

'Sowwy,' he said around the food.

'What did I just say?' Mezrielda fumed, crossing her arms and legs and glowering at the wall which was lighting up from the projector. Nerves scalded her insides. Was Bagsy really going to be okay? Or was she going to go missing, like Perdita?

Letting out a long breath, she tried to calm herself. Bagsy could take care of herself, she'd shown that time and time again. Unlike Mezrielda, when things got tough, Bagsy fought her way out, saving everyone as she went.

Angrily, Mezrielda kicked herself for never being able to do the same in return. Sure, she'd made some silly little wish in first year that had kept Bagsy alive, but what was that in comparison to what Bagsy had done, and constantly did, for her? And now she couldn't even cast spells. She was a dead weight. She knew it. Bagsy knew it. It was only a matter of time before...