Maurelle watched as droplets of salty water fell onto the book she held in her lap, the one she leaned over and stared at with distant eyes. She wiped the tears from the book, the same book that Draco had gifted to her a while ago.
She loved it still.
Sniffling, Maurelle rested her head on the stone wall behind her. She had been sat in a lonely, empty corridor for the last half hour. Now that she didn't have Draco, it became clear that she didn't want to be without him. His companionship was everything to her. He was the one person she never felt scared to confide in. Because she trusted him and knew he trusted her.
"Oh dear Freddie, it seems there is a teary stranger in our path." She heard George say as the twins saw their little sister on the floor of Hogwarts crying.
"Unfortunately Georgie, I think you're right," Fred said as he took a seat beside Maurelle as his brother had also done.
"I'm not crying," Maurelle said weakly.
"Mo, your eyes aren't leaking firewhiskey," Fred said and George nodded.
"If only! We'd no longer have holey clothes!" His twin stated poking a finger through his sweater in example and Maurelle laughed lightly.
"Could be worse, you could be holey," Fred said leaning over Maurelle to poke George. "Let's hope Ron never goes hungry aye?"
"When is he not hungry?" Maurelle asked and the siblings laughed together thinking of their always eating brother.
"So are you going to tell us why you're upset?" Fred asked.
"I'm Slytherin, I should be ambitious but I'm not a Gryffindor and I'm not brave enough to do it."
"You're as brave as you'll let yourself be Maurelle. That is the secret of bravery." George explained.
"The only thing that you have to overcome is yourself and anything after that-" Fred added.
"-is an adventure" Maurelle finished. She looked up at them in confirmation and they both nodded. "But what if it makes the people I love hate me?"
"Then they don't love you." They said.
"You know, you two aren't so bad when you're not pulling pranks all the time and antagonizing me," Maurelle said with a smile.
"Hey! Our pranks are amazing!"
She couldn't disagree but it didn't mean she'd tell them that, Maurelle didn't want their heads to inflate.
