McGonagall sat facing Angelica.
"Miss O’Connor," she said quietly. "I must know what happened." Blaise and Nott…
"I can’t tell you that, Professor."
"Come, girl, what is it?" They’re them, Professor.
"I can’t tell you, Professor."
"Were they teasing you?" Teasing me about my decisions.
"I can’t tell you that, Professor."
McGonagall stood. "I demand to know at once what happened, Angelica!"
Angelica closed her eyes.
"It’s…them. Blaise and Nott. Their arms."
"What?" gasped McGonagall, sitting down slowly.
"Their arms. They’ve been branded." And after that, a murdering silence swept through the room. Then, McGonagall spoke two words.
"Merlin’s beard…"
*
Professor McGonagall instructed Blaise and Nott to be removed from the Slytherin 7th Year boys’ dormitory, leaving Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle (Draco’s old henchmen) alone. The two gorillas hadn’t any idea why, but simply shrugged and went back to struggling to read The Adventures of Martin Miggs: The Mad Muggle. That surprised Angelica. She didn’t know they could read.
Before she entered her own dormitory that night, she snuck over to the 7th year girls’. She heard whispers…
Pansy was saying, "…but of course, she’s an idiot. And, get this! Completley head-over-heels for Zabini!"
Ruckus laughter from the other girls made Angelica’s ears burn. She knew they were talking about her.
"But, not any more, of course," said another. Angelica recognized it to be Clara Jesse. Pretty but dumb, she was the ideal girl for any power-hungry boy like Draco. So, it was a wonder she secretly (well, not so secretly, actually) hated Pansy for getting the Malfoy kid.
"Of course," agreed Pansy. "I can’t believe she’d turn them in!"
"I heard she was bullied by some Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws!" said another. Vanessa Charles. Just like Zabini’s, her mother was rich, famous, and extremely beautiful. Though Angelica was sure her mother hadn’t been married more than twice.
"Yeah, but who’d you hear that from?" demanded Clara.
"Kelly Winslow," said Vanessa. "You know, that sixth year."
"Yeah, yeah, we all know Kelly Winslow," snarled Pansy. "Who doesn’t? Anyway, since when as Winslow been a reliable source?"
"Touché!" said Clara, laughing.
"So, back to O’Connor," said Pansy. "Shall we be hexing her tonight?"
"Since when have you cared about Angelica?"
"Since she got Blaise and Nott in trouble," cried Pansy. "Hello, Earth to girls! They could be kicked out and put into Azkaban!"
The room went deadly quiet. Angelica covered her mouth and nose with her hand, for fear they would hear her breathing.
"No," said a fourth voice. Angelica wasn’t sure, but she thought it belonged to Blaise’s cousin, Madeline. "No, they won’t be. They haven’t done anything. Mum would have told me. It would have been in the news." Here, she put on a manly voice: "Hogwarts Students Expelled – Involvement with the Dark Lord. Or something like that," she added in her normal voice.
"Well," said Pansy. "She still got them in trouble."
"Pans – you don’t like Blaise or Theo, do you?" asked Clara slowly.
"No!" said Pansy in shocked tones. "No…not Nott."
"Blaise?" the girls gasped. There was more silence, then giggles.
"Angelica’s not going to like that," said Madeline.
"Well, Angelica’s not going to know, is she?" said Pansy quietly.
"Of course not," replied Madeline quickly.
Enraged, Angelica turned and hurried to her own dormitory, where she collapsed fully-clothed onto her bed in tears.
*
That next morning, Angelica refused to leave the dormitory. She lay on her bed, face on pillow, as her best friends Elle and Maria sat on the end of her bed.
Both Elle Ray and Maria Santos were in the same position as Angelica. Elle’s mother wasn’t a Death Eater, but Voldemort knew she supported him. So, that was at least one family safe from the Dark Lord’s wrath. Maria’s uncle was a Death Eater, and her father and mother supported Voldemort.
But neither Elle nor Maria knew where to go.
They sat, tugging on Angelica’s feet and attempting to coax her out of bed.
"I heard breakfast is good," said Maria, who always thought about food. She ate so much, even though she was as thin as a wand. The thin people always need more to eat, she would say.
"You know Slughorn is going to kill you if you miss Potions," Elle pointed out.
"I don’t care!" Angelica shouted, though the pillow muffled her voice so Elle and Maria had to lean in to hear her. "I’m never coming out."
"Angelica!"
"No, Elle, I’m staying here."
"No, Angelica, you’re not," said Maria firmly. She and Elle tugged on her legs, so she came sliding off the bed. There, she landed on the floor, but curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth.
"Oh, Merlin, Angelica, you look like a filthy house-elf," snapped Maria. "This is ridiculous!" She grabbed Angelica’s shoulder and heaved her to her feet. Then, she drew her wand and pointed it, hard, between her friend’s shoulder blades. "Go," she commanded.