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xii. TWELVE
FORCIBLY FREE
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ILIA AND THE OTHERS HAD EACH GONE OFF TO THE LIBRARY TO STUDY AGAIN, DESPITE HER ATTEMPTS TO GET AWAY. The librarian had decided that both Melora and Ilia would be allowed back inside if they went separately, and only if they were accompanied by someone more trusted. By getting a reluctant Ilia Nyxeris to study with their other roommates, it left Melora to relax in the common room, surrounded by younger students that whispered about her to their friends, at an obnoxiously loud volume.
But upon seeing Astoria Greengrass come out of her dormitory with several of her friends, Melora decided that the common room held no place for her. The sea creatures that she could spot through the glass across from her all seemed to swim closer once she had stood up, almost mocking her cowardly attitude towards a fourth-year. She made no effort to redeem herself, however. She simply didn't want anything to do with Astoria. It wasn't because she was scared, or anxious as to what she was capable of. Melora found her naïve, and rather pathetic.
"What's wrong, Lestrange?" she called after her as she made to leave the dungeon. "Are you scared I'll insult you and your precious relationship?"
She should ignore her, she thought. She would constantly respond to all of Prescott's insults and petty comments, and she had decided that perhaps remaining silent would benefit her more. After all, she was sure that Astoria only wanted a reaction, and if she gave her nothing, then the girl would back down.
"Isn't that the girl whose parents just broke out of Azkaban?" someone muttered as she left the Slytherin dungeons and passed by a Potions classroom.
"Lestrange, yeah," their - she presumed, anyway - friend added quietly. "I heard she stayed home on the first day of term to meet them. Brave, right? Do you think she liked them?"
It wasn't exactly considered an option to like your parents when you were a member of the Black family - even if she didn't carry the surname, she still counted as one - and so she found herself laughing at the innocence of the comment. Some people had no clue what it was like to lead a life as a Lestrange. And much as she hated to admit it, she sometimes envied those students.
She was headed for the library in hope of finding literally anyone she knew; spending another moment in the common room probably would have killed her - not to mention, Astoria had arrived to destroy whatever was left of her good mood. Even if she wasn't allowed inside whilst Ilia was, she could guarantee to find ways to bend the rules. Retrieving someone from a room didn't count as spending time there, did it? She would be out again before Madam Pince could even work out she'd been there at all.
