Loyal | Tom Riddle

35: Ignored

A/N: I would just like to thank all of you very much for making this story ranked #500 in Fanfiction, with over 3K votes, 4K comments, and 55K reads! It's simply unbelievable, and I don't deserve it at all, but thank you so much! When I began writing this, I thought I'd be lucky to have 1K reads by the end of it... Thank you all so much for your continued support, votes, and comments which make me laugh and smile in public like a total idiot! I love all of you very, very much, and your feedback and reactions mean the absolute world to me, so please, please keep it up ❤ I promise to upload more regularly in these next few months and maybe finish up the story!

Fair springtime weather meant more than simply enjoying the sweet breezes that coasted across the lake's surface and admiring the colourful wildflowers that sprang up on the mountainside amongst the trees; springtime meant frequent trips to Hogsmeade, and Arabella was not one to make an exception.

The entire Gryffindor common room was abuzz with excitement at the prospect of exchanging another weekend stuck inside the castle for strolling idly about the picturesque cobblestone streets lined with timber houses and spending too many galleons on practical jokes -- sweets were in short supply, what with the war rationing put in place by the Ministry of Magic as a show of support for the Army.

However, as a Prefect, she had other duties to deal with first.

"Have you seen my coinpurse?" a tall, blonde sixth year asked with worry. "It's beaded, and I got it last year -- for my birthday, I think? No, Christmas. Definitely Christmas. -- and it's this really nice lavender."

Arabella informed her that she had never seen an item of such description, barely resisting the temptation to roll her eyes. It was hard to deal with everything on her own, without John.

"Do you still have my permission slip?" inquired a gangly third year with an unruly mop of red hair innocently, causing her to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"Albert, you aren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade after what happened last semester--"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

"--and you would be very lucky if you are ever allowed again. I heard that Honeydukes is still trying to fix that hole you blew--"

"It wasn't me, it was Sticky's Super Sticky, Ultra-Powerful, Tidy-Proof, Everlasting, Tried and True Sticky Bomb--"

"--that poor girl had to be sent to the infirmary because she had a bunch of boxes of Fiery Floo Hard Candy explode in her face--"

"Who is stupid enough to actually want to eat those?"

"Albert!" Arabella hissed, having lost her patience. "The Headmaster may tolerate this, but I don't want to go to Azkaban for murdering you, so please, for the love of Merlin, shut up!"

The boy's face turned a shade of flaming red that matched his hair. He could barely squeak out a reply before a muscular arm swatted him out of the way like a fly.

"Travers!" boomed Cahill happily, flashing her a wide grin. "How's my favourite Chaser?"

"Ahem." Callan McGregor, the other Chaser, shot the captain a glare from the other side of the room.

"Ah, yes. One of my favourite Chasers. Whatever. Same thing," Cahill corrected himself, waving his hand dismissively. "Well, Travers, I was thinking of organising a little team training for today, at around two or so. . . . What do you think?"

Arabella let out a groan. "Well, don't expect anyone to be there, then."

Her teammate furrowed his brow in confusion. "What? Why? Are you going on strike? Did I do something wrong? How are we going to win against Ravenclaw two weeks from now if--"