The Roses of Hogwarts | Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter Seventeen: Find Me

"I missed you guys!"

Oriane, Charlotte, and Emerald were immediately tackled by a lonely Calista the very moment they entered their dorm. Her hug was so bone crushingly strong Oriane found it difficult to breath as she was squished into her roommates. They had been absent for the better part of the last two weeks, leaving Calista alone to her own devices. And boy, had she been busy.

Paper chain garland hung from the walls, adding a pop of pink to the otherwise stone and yellow room. Various other arts and crafts projects laid out on the floor, some only half finished. She had even taken the liberty of decorating her roommates bed posts with some of these projects while they were gone.

Eventually the girls were able to pull themselves out of Calista's group hug, trying to look at her properly.

"Looks like you've been busy," Charlotte said, looking at her bed. Everything was just as she had left it two weeks ago, except for the paper butterflies that were stuck to her bed posts. They were even enchanted to flap their wings.

"There's hardly been anything to do here," Calista whined, looking back at her work.

Oriane turned her attention to her own bed. Just like with the others, she had paper cut outs stuck to her posts as well. Hers were little bees, with a few flowers to go with them. Their wings were also enchanted to flap, a talent she was surprised to see Calista show.

"It looks wonderful," Oriane admitted.

Calista grinned. "Emi, did you see the ones I did for you? I made you little dragons!"

And so Calista showed the girls around, pointing out everything she had made while they had been gone. Everything from the enchanted dragonflies on her bed, to some plant Professor Sprout gave her that she almost killed.

After the grand tour was over, the girls began to settle in, unpacking from their long holiday and rearranging some of their items. It was rather odd being back. After everything that happened over break, it felt like she hadn't ever left at all, yet so much had changed. Perhaps it was the weight in her chest. She felt it ever since her conversation with Esme. A terrible heaviness on her chest that just wouldn't go away.

Yet she paid it no mind, like she had with nearly everything else that had gone wrong in her life. Ignore something long enough and it would either go away or blow up in her face. Either way, she didn't have to deal with it at that moment.

"What's this?" Emerald spoke up. She looked at a piece of paper on Calista's nightstand. It looked to just be a blank piece of parchment. "Was this another project you were working on?"

Calista, who was busy messing with some enchanted birds on the bathroom door, turned her attention to Emerald. Her brown eyes blew wide the moment she looked at the parchment.

"Oh, no, that's nothing," she said quickly, turning away from the door.

But the smile had vanished from her face. A sudden terrified look overcame Calista's features. She was silently begging for the paper to stay where it was.

Yet, Emerald didn't see. She was too busy flipping the parchment over to heed the cries of her friend. And when she saw what was on the other side, a devilish grin crossed her face.

"Oh," she said teasingly, "it's your report card."

"Emi, please," Calista begged.

"Let's see how many T's you earned this year," Emerald poked.

Everyone stood around motionless as Emerald began to read Calista's report card. Oriane wasn't quite sure what to expect, but she felt a little awkward about it. Reading's someone's grades seemed to be some sort of privacy breach. She just kept telling herself that these girls knew one another for nearly three years, and that Calista probably didn't mind that much anyway.