"Bejeweled"
“The sun is starting to set, and I have quidditch practice,” She says, not scared to look me directly in my eyes, “You should go back to the Ravenclaw tower to catch up on some schoolwork before dinner time,” She continues.
I wander out of the frigid, drab common room and slowly stroll back to Ravenclaw tower thinking of Bellatrix’s beautiful eyes and her lavish personality. Once I enter the common area, I immediately notice one of my close friends, Gilderoy Lockhart, rushing towards me.
“Oh man, Rita, I have the most amazing story idea ever!” He exclaims frantically.
“I was eavesdropping on Marcus Greyton and Eliza Waves, and I heard that apparently the ‘dark side’ are seeking for young Hogwarts students to help join their side of the uprising war, and I was thinking that maybe we could write a story to warn people about what could possibly happen if they get their way.” He continues; all of his words seem to jumble inside of my head and sound like utter nonsense.
“Yeah, that’s great Gilderoy but I think should focus more on kid-friendly topics to not scare the living shit out first years for starters, and so that Flitwick actually lets us publish the article this time,” I state softly so that I don’t hurt Gildeory’s feelings too much.
“Oh, yeah, I understand, do you have anything in mind?” He sounds a little upset by my statement, but he then hastily covers it up with enthusiasm.
“I was thinking that maybe we could do a story about Abel Mintz and Odette Roses,” I humbly suggest.
“What about them?” He inquires.
“Well, I was in the Slytherin common room and I noticed that Odette seems awfully close to Abel which obviously means they’re dating, so I was thinking we would write an article about their scandalous relationship and you know Flitwick would let us publish it he loves gossip,” I answer his question with a sound of pure bliss coming from my throat due to my excitement of what could become of this article.
“I have already started writing it and if you want you can make the other article since we need four by Sunday so that we can officially get it approved and published to be sent out for the students to buy,” I recommend.
“What if I write an article about that old potion master who wrote all of those dark art potion-making books back in the day and about his death? I can ask McGonagall about him since they were in the same graduating class, and I can ask Dumbledore about him since he was one of the professors that taught him,” Gilderoy suggests.
When he suggests this, I immediately remember why me and him are such good friends. He helps find ways to attract everyone’s attention to our newspaper no matter what kind of person they are. I help to bring the gossipy girls. He helps bring the people who enjoy dark topics like the blood supremacists. And we both equally bring topics for the nerdy people and the sporty folk.
“I'm going to go and do my homework before dinner,” I tell him before making my way across the tower to where the girls’ dormitories are located.
Later that night I lay in my bed. I noticed the stars projected on the ceiling with my magic. I recognize some of the names from Black family members. Sirius, Regulus, Bellatrix.
After all of these nights thinking about her. I never noticed that she was directly above my head every single night. Whether she wanted to be or not she was always here with me.
I butter my toast making quick glances over to the Slytherin table to see if Bellatrix is here.
She is.
“Rita what has gotten into you today?” My friend, Kitty, inquires.
“Yeah, sorry I just had a long night,” I adjust the golden glasses on my face.
Suddenly, one of the girls who was tormenting me about being a lesbian came up to our table.
It was Mileena.
“Hey Rita, how are you today?” She asks with this bitch-face look across her complexion.
“I'm fine Mileena,” I notice how grotesque her look is with her blue eyes that are far too pale, her skin far too tan, and her blonde hair neither straight nor curly but certainly always messy.
“You know it would sure be a shame to today if somebody found out you were a-” Her teeth start rapidly growing before she could get the next word off of her tongue.
She lets out a blood-curdling shriek that as far as Athens could probably hear.
“What did you do!?” She exclaims, causing a cackle to come out of a certain Slytherin's mouth. Another one her friends notice the chaos and strides with pride over to the table.
This one is Faerlie.
“If Mileena can't say it then I will,” She states with snark in her tone but before she gets the chance to even start her sentence her teeth also begin to grow so incredibly fast that they're almost double the size in the blink of an eye.
One of the professors walks over to our table littered with an abundance of foods and beverages.
“Girls, what is going on?” McGonagall inquisitively asks us.
“She cursed us or something!” Mileena exclaims.
“I did no such thing. I don't know how this happened,” I calmly respond to not escalate the situation more than it already is.
“Rita didn't do anything. I did,” I take note of the familiar curly, raven-haired girl walking over and talking.
“Ms. Black do you know the consequences for cursing other students?” McGonagall asks her with a look of concern.
“I understand but I am okay with those as long as I get to protect my friend,” She responds, making sure to be elegant and calm as ever.
Today she has her long black waves styled into a simple Dutch braid. She wears a tiny bit of makeup, mainly just mascara, eyeliner, and mahogany lip tint. Her earrings are small, silver spiders, and her necklace is matching. She wears her usual school uniform but with platform Mary Jane's to spice up the look. She looks as beautiful as ever.
All four of my friends, Leah Clarke, Edith Winters, Kitty Moody, and March Eastey, look over at me after hearing Bellatrix call me her friend.
“Bellatrix Black?” March mouths over to me, attempting to not make a sound. Despite not making a single noise, Bellatrix gives March a look that sends a shiver down her muggle-born spine.
“Well then come along with me Ms. Black and we'll go discuss your punishment with Professor Slughorn,” McGonagall states before walking away with the sound of her heels clicking against the cold, stone flooring.
Suddenly, the owls begin to fly in with packages from all over with letters from family members and friends.
A letter is dropped into my lap by our family owl named Remy. I notice that the envelope is relatively thick meaning that there is probably something from both my mom and my brother.
I quickly unseal the envelope to reveal a drawing from my brother of mine in my traditional, Ravenclaw robes holding my wand and a letter written in his messy, six-year-old handwriting.
Dear, Rita
Mommy told me to write something to you since you said you wanted to hear from me. I'm not sure what you want to hear but I just want to remind you that I love and miss you and I can't wait for you to come back for the holidays.
From, Ridge
The letter is written in blue crayon, and the drawing is littered with hearts that stand strong around the drawing of me. He's always been so kind to everyone despite what they think of him. He'd make a good Hufflepuff once he's able to come to Hogwarts.
The next letter is one written from my mother. She usually doesn't write to me unless it is really important, or it is something about my father. My father is a muggle, so he doesn't get to have a magical job like my mother who is a Healer. Instead, he is a soldier in the British army. More specifically he is a father that just wants to make the world a better place for his son, his daughter, and his baby boy that will be arriving in about 4 months.
Dearest Rita Bridget,
I am unpleased to inform you of some dire news about your father. As you know about the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. Your father is promptly being shipped off over to the island to help counter the growing disorder. We are not quite sure when he will return and if he will return based on the growing danger of the situation. As you know, not only are the British military becoming more and more aggressive by the day, but the Irish are also getting more belligerent and are unquestionably sure that they are going to keep fighting until they get their rights. I will update you with more information as I hear from him.
Yours Truly, Mabel Lucy Skeeter
My mother has always liked to call me by my full name Rita Bridget Skeeter. She signs all of her letters with her fancy, calligraphy signature. She writes all of her letters to make it seem like she lacks human emotions while my father writes all of his letters to truly show that he cares about us.
My father writes as if it is the last letter he will ever send to us and he wants to most definitely tell us how much he adores us. My mother writes as if she dreads seeing us the next time and only does it for the sake of informing us about our father. My brother writes like he cares for me, but if you actually met him in person, he is a brat and would rather eat hot candle wax before admitting that he cares about anyone despite his kind and cheerful personality.
There are major differences between my family members. My dad is sympathetic and warm, my mom is cold and aloof, my brother is a mix of both. He is kind like my father but misanthropic when anyone asks him if he cares for them.
I am knocked back to reality by the sound of a loud thud of a gift hitting the table directly in front of me. I look up and take note of the pitch-black owl flying over my head and out of my line of vision.
‘What’s that?” Edith questions before Leah gets the chance to.
“I’m not sure. I shouldn’t be getting anything else currently,” I state, looking at the small, black, velvet package tied with a snow white, satin ribbon.
I carefully undo the ribbon, being sure not to wrinkle the expensive satin. All of my friends’ eyes are scrupulously watching me. I open the lid of the miniscule box to reveal a gorgeous set of gold earrings with glistening sapphire placed directly in the middle. As far as I can tell these are some of the most expensive earrings I have ever seen in my entire life.
My friends gasp in surprise once they notice the opulent, bedazzled earrings.
“Oh, my Merlin, who sent you those?” Leah requests.
“I’m not sure there is no note or anything,” I state, completely charmed by the beauty of the intricate details laced within the earrings.
I take out my current green earrings in the shape of quills before replacing it with the gold and sapphire ones. I place the quill earrings in my cross-body bag along with the small velvet box and white, satin ribbon.
I’m not quite sure who sent the earrings, but I do know who I want it to be.