The Legacy (Camren)

Chapter Twelve

Lauren didn't hear a word from Camila after their return from Hogsmeade that evening. Since they had a shorter curfew than the rest of the school, they were the first two back in the castle before dinner. Lauren asked if Camila wanted to help her plant a Dungbomb under Chris's bed, to which Camila solemnly denied her request and retreated to some unknown part of the castle.

Lauren wasn't sure if Camila's strange behavior was a side effect of the potion wearing off, or if she was angry about the run in with Zayn, or if Camila had been turned away from Lauren by the kiss. Whatever the case, Camila didn't seem to want anything to do with Lauren, and at dinner that night, she was nowhere to be found.

Lauren sat down in her usual seat with a sigh. There was a gap between her and Dinah where Camila usually sat, and sensing something was wrong, Dinah closed it. Normani and Ally were watching Lauren intently from across the table as well. They were used to Lauren's bad moods since the drama with Camila began, but all three girls could sense that this was something different judging by their expressions.

"Everything okay?" Dinah asked.

"I guess," Lauren shrugged. "I mean, compared to everything that's happened, yeah, but...no."

"Where's Camila?" Normani asked. "Not clinging to your side, as usual?"

"If I only knew," Lauren sighed. "She took off as soon as we got back from our date."

"Well, how did it go?" Ally asked.

"Obviously not very well," Lauren snapped irritably.

A hush fell over the Great Hall as the doors creaked open and Zayn walked confidently inside, not flanked by any of his friends for once in his life. Lauren guessed the muffled whispers were because people were so shocked that he wasn't with his posse. That, or word had already gotten around of his thievery from Zonko's. Lauren kept her head down as he passed on his way to the Slytherin table, and once he was in his seat, the chatter commenced as usual.

"Why do I feel like he has something to do with this whole potion thing?" Dinah asked.

Lauren slapped a steak onto her plate, attempting to ignore her friends. She didn't feel like explaining, much less know how to explain. "Oh, Zayn somehow snuck into the Gryffindor girl's dormitory, stole a love potion that, by the way, Camila stole from Snape, dropped it into Camila's drink, and has been the source of our problems for the past month." Lauren didn't know how to explain because she didn't know why he'd done any of it, but the more she thought about it, the more she just wanted to get it off her chest.

She leaned in close and signaled for the other girls to do the same. She explained every detail, from the conversation she'd had with Hagrid to her plan to reverse the potion to the Harry Potter figurine- which none of them had ever heard of- and to the run-in with Zayn, only leaving out one tiny little detail.

"I agree that Zayn is as despicable as Slytherins come, but...what about the potion? Did you find out who she's in love with? Isn't that the whole reason you went to Hogsmeade in the first place?" Ally asked when Lauren had finished her story. "What happened with that?"

"Camila wouldn't tell me anything," Lauren shrugged, which wasn't a total lie.

"So nothing happened?" Normani pressed. "She's just magically cured of the potion?"

"I think she was so shocked to see that Zayn had been the one to steal it that she snapped out of it," Lauren reasoned, though she wasn't entirely convinced. "I mean, she didn't know she was under its influence until she saw it and remembered what happened-"

"Oh, cut the crap," Dinah interrupted. "Spill it. Who kissed who?"

Lauren was as stunned as Ally and Normani. Each of them stared at Dinah, mouths open, like they couldn't fathom where she would get such preposterous information.