𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | l. lovegood

vii

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 mandrake leaf in her mouth, but after the first couple days, Dorothea got used to it. She'd gotten better at not accidentally almost swallowing it during meals or when drinking, and she's been able to keep it hidden either underneath her tongue or at the roof of her mouth whenever called on or spoken to by a professor.

She spent her free time in the library doing extra research and taking notes about animagi transformations. She wanted to get it right on the first try since it was such a long and tedious process.

As Dorothea turned the corner to the Charms corridor, her feet slipped out from under her, and she was launched upward into the air. She thrashed around, fear shooting threw her. She's never realized just how high the ceilings were before. She heard laughing, and she spotted Dylan Rodgers and Blake Miller.

"How's the weather up there, Torpid?" Rodgers asked, flicking his wand and sending Dorothea up higher.

"L-Let me down!" Dorothea tried to mask the fear in her voice, but it was no use. She was terrified of heights.

Rodgers smirked and exchanged a look with Miller. "If you say so." He swiped his wand down, and Dorothea screamed as she went crashing towards the floor, only to be shot back up into the air moments before she hit the ground.

Dorothea's shaky hands reached for the wand in her robe pocket. She raised it and tried to mutter a spell to defend herself, but Miller was quicker.

"Expelliarmus!" he hissed, and Dorothea's wand went flying from her hand, landing on the floor and emitting sparks.

"HEY!" a voice from the end of the corridor shouted. The two Slytherin boys turned to see who it was and then made a run for it.

Dorothea screamed as the levitation spell on her broke. She once more found herself falling fast towards the ground. She closed her eyes and waited for the crash to come. This was how she was gonna die.

"Arresto Momentum!" Hermione pointed her wand at Dorothea, who slowed down just mere centimeters from the floor.

The petite brunette grunted softly when she landed. She slowly pushed herself up onto her knees and reached for her wand, which shook slightly in her trembling hands.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, concern in her voice as she reached a hand out to help the 4th year up.

Dorothea didn't answer. She stood up without accepting the older girl's help and rushed towards Professor Flitwick's classroom, her cheeks damp with silent tears. She took a deep breath and wiped her face with the sleeves of her robe before entering.

"Ah, Miss Tonks," the tiny professor said from where he stood on top of a stack of textbooks on his desk. "You're late."

"S-Sorry, Professor," Dorothea whispered as she sat down next to Luna. "It won't happen again."

"Well, you're a good kid." Flitwick smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm sure we can let it slide this time. Now, everyone, open up your textbooks. We will be learning the summoning charm today..."

As Flitwick began to teach, Luna gently nudged Dorothea with her elbow. When the brunette turned her head slightly to look at her, she noticed that her eyes were glistening with tears.

"Are you okay?" Luna asked quietly. She placed a gentle hand on top of Dorothea's trembling hand. She frowned when the Hufflepuff nodded. "You're not," she whispered softly. "Was it those awful boys again?"

Dorothea nodded once more. She opened her charms textbook and flipped to the chapter on summoning charms. Luna rubbed her back comfortingly.

After class, it was time for lunch, but Dorothea wasn't really in the mood to sit in the loud Great Hall while Rodgers and Miller bragged to their Slytherin buddies about how good they got her in the corridor. Luna used the new charm that they learned to summon some of the food from the tables to them, which they took outside with them to the courtyard.