running. Running from the glowing eyes that pursued her, running from the antagonistic creature that was hungry for her. Arabella Rose Flannery was running, because that was all she could do.

Its burning blonde fur and scalded skin cracked open wounds against the pressure of its large limbs, ignoring the blood now trickling down its torso. The beast's jaw began to salivate at the sight of the scared girl, opening wide and showcasing the yellow canines that inhabited its drooling mouth. Its fluorescent eyes illuminated the eerie darkness, shining a hue similar to the colour of the Ravenclaw's fiery hair.

As an attempt to escape, Bella spotted the Black Lake that lay silently in front of her, nothing but small ripples upon it. She glanced back for a mere second, inhaling a sharp gasp when she could hear the thundering footsteps of the running werewolf approaching.

She glanced back to the scene in front of her of the moon cascading upon the dark lake, took in a sharp breath, and jumped.

She began to swim helplessly in the lake, her feet becoming tangled with seaweed and her arms beginning to ache. She didn't bother to look back when she heard the frustrated howl of the creature, forcing a slight smile to know that she had escaped its hungry pursuit. That was until she felt something other than seaweed pulling at her feet. In fact, it began pulling her so hard that it forced her underwater.

It started at one of them; the disgusting octopus-like creatures attempting to trap her under the surface of the lake. It escalated within a matter of seconds, reaching to hundreds of them clawing at her feet.

She attempted to cry out in terror as she was dragged under, but only bubbles escaped. Her lungs filled with tight air, making each breath painfully hard against the pressure of the Grindylows atop the lack of oxygen.

Cuts began to litter her feet and ankles from the claws of the water creatures, filling the space around her with her own gushing blood. She was getting pulled deeper into the water by the second - a canopy of the horrific Grindylows covering her like a suffocating pillow.

She felt herself losing air; losing life. Falling into the black abyss of the lake where she knew she would drown - her body a mere limp and lifeless figure free of all colour that once accentuated her beautifully pale features. Now, her skin was not the kind of pale that signified the joyful winter snow and the bitingly cold weather, but a pale hue that was deathly, and ghostly.

Because Arabella was dying.

The redhead awoke with a startle, confused and dazed when she recognised her surroundings to be her dormitory. She noticed that both Zoe and Erin were not in their beds, and Zoe's bedsheets were sprawled out on the floor as if she had thrown them off in a hurry. Bella then realised that she hadn't seen or talked to either of the girls since finding out about Zoe's supernatural secret, and she hoped that Erin was taking the information better than she did. She also hoped that Zoe knew that Arabella had found out, because if she wasn't aware, the two girls would have to experience a very uncomfortable and awkward encounter - and Bella was not good with those.

The November air was bitter and unpleasant, meaning that the Ravenclaw instantly made the decision to stay in bed despite being extremely curious on the whereabouts of two of her roommates. Deanna, as usual, was enthralled into a deep and heavy sleep (of which she would most definitely not get out of until the sun came up, no matter how hard Bella could try to wake her up).

As Arabella tucked her head beneath the canopy of her duvet, they were instantly thrown off her in a blind panic, when she heard a shrill howl amidst the blackened night. Sighing loudly, she placed her bare feet upon the frosty wooden floor, wincing as a sting of cold shot up her nerves like a bullet.

Walking swiftly up to the window and drawing the royal blue curtains open, she emitted a quiet gasp when a full moon grew into her vision, emerging from behind the grey clouds. "Zoe," she spoke softly to herself. "That's where she is."

Bella glanced down to the Forbidden Forest, all signs of life blanketed by the mass of dark trees as she attempted to lay eyes on her roommate, who would most likely be there in her werewolf form. "As for Erin, I have no idea where she is." She spoke again, shrugging as she clambered messily back into her four-poster bed. She decided quickly that worrying about the two girls would not do her any favours - Zoe and Erin would definitely not worry about her, so why would Bella worry about them?

●

The next morning, Arabella was frantically pulling on her Ravenclaw robe over her uniform as she ran down the back stairs that exited from the dormitory. She was already late for her Potions class, and would be even more pushed for time if she had not began sprinting her way there. Being late for Professor Snape's class would often result in detention, so she instantly regretted allowing herself to fall back asleep at the risk of tardiness; she knew from then on that sleeping in was a bad idea.

As she pushed open the ancient arched doors with a loud bang and ran to her seat beside Fred and George - since the Ravenclaws shared this particular lesson with the Gryffindors - and all eyes trailed from their cauldrons to Bella's red and panicked face. She heard a few students whisper about her late arrival to their friends, including Harry Potter, who murmured to Hermione and Ron something along the lines of Arabella receiving a severe punishment that would likely involve a whole week of detention and an angry letter to her parents.

"Miss Flannery," Professor Snape snarled in his familiar monotonous tone. "Care to enlighten us on why everybody else has already began making their Common Poison Antidote, and you have only just decided to attend my class?" She opened her mouth to defend herself, but was interrupted by Snape again. "I would expect more from a Ravenclaw, especially the likes of a Flannery. I am beginning to think that your younger sister Eleanor is better than you are, and she is a Hufflepuff."

Arabella's hand began to shake in anger. "How dare you speak a word about my sister!"

Snape's expression remained calm. "May I need to remind you that I am the Professor, and you are but a mere student. I have the right to say anything that I wish, but you, however, do not. Particularly after you attempted to express your opinion - not very lightly, should I add - to Professor Moody. I am surprised that he did not issue you a detention or any form of punishment, but I can guarantee that you will not be treated as kindly so long that you are in my classroom."

Arabella allowed a small smile to curl up her lips. "I'm sure that Dumbledore won't be very impressed with the fact that you are punishing me without a valid reason, Professor."

"I have a perfectly valid reason, Miss Flannery."

"What is it, then? That I was protecting my sibling, or that I disagreed with your morals? Or that I turned up late, even?" She paused, acknowledging Snape's lack of words. "With that being said, Dumbledore will not take any of these reasons to be a valid excuse for punishing one of his favourite students. One thing you should learn about Ravenclaws, Professor, is that we are smart enough to weasel our way out of any punishment."

"Detention, Miss Flannery. Come to me at the end of your last class, and you will spend the rest of the evening writing lines in my office."

"Detention to a Ravenclaw? Seriously, Snape?" George retaliated when he could see that, for the first time in a while, Arabella was speechless.

"Yeah, Snape. I bet you know from experience that Ravenclaws always find a way to get out of detentions." Fred agreed with his twin brother. "Especially Bella. She's got out of loads."

"Clearly, by her incredible intellect and wit, I do not doubt that she has managed to - as she put it - weasel her way out of punishments." He then turned to Bella, who could not yet bring herself to look the greasy-haired Professor in his dark, soulless eyes. "But as of this year, things are changing." He walked ominously around the room, his footsteps echoing amongst his booming voice as he announced to the class, much to the dismay and embarrassment of the redhead. "Do not forget, Miss Flannery. This evening at six o'clock; my office. If you chose not to attend, or turn up late like you have to my lesson, I will undoubtedly further your punishment to something far more . . . severe."

Arabella ignored his threat, only forced a mere nod of the head, with a sly smile hiding behind her ginger hair. She turned to her cauldron, glancing up once to see that most students had stopped to watch the commotion between her and Snape - meaning they had not yet completed making their Antidote. This made her pleased, knowing that she wasn't as far behind as she thought she was, and remained with the same grin on her face as she added crushed Unicorn Horn into the bubbling liquid.

Fred sent her an apologetic look before lightly elbowing her in the side. "Psst," he whispered to her as Snape walked by. Every student in the room was conversing as they made their potions, but the Weasley boy figured that Snape wouldn't want to catch Arabella talking since she was now on his bad side.

She turned to Fred in anticipation and gestured for her best friend to speak, signalling that it was okay. "Don't worry about that snivelling old git, Bella. He just gave you a detention because he won't admit that he is wrong and you are right."

Bella shrugged. "Guess nothing has changed there, then." She teased. "And I'm not worrying, Freddie. I'm just annoyed that he has the audacity to say such things."

"Yeah, but you should have learned from Potter that being sassy to Professor Snape never gets you anywhere." Said George.

"You've done it plenty of times."

"Yes, but we're Fred and George Weasley."

●

Arabella was pacing around the Ravenclaw Common Room, ranting and yelling to Deanna about her encounter with Professor Snape. The girl had been there when it happened, yet her friend insisted on telling her the situation as if she was not there to relive it. "How dare he! I mean, you just can't say that to a student! Honestly, Dea, I'm surprised he's even allowed within a metre of this school because of his wretched ways. He's such a-- such a--- ugh, I hate him!"

"I can tell," Deanna spoke placidly, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose as she glanced over her reading book. "But you're not alone on that one. I hate Snape too, along with the rest of our house, the Gryffindors, and the Hufflepuffs. In fact, even some Slytherins hate him. The only Slytherins I know that actually like the stupid man are Malfoy and his friends, which says a lot about their personality, I suppose."

Bella nodded, finally sitting down after a solid ten minutes of pacing. She sat directly beside Deanna, laying with her head against hers.

She looked up at the ancient rusted clock, groaning when the hands read five-thirty. "I have to go to my detention in half an hour." She moaned. "And if I don't come back, I've probably been murdered."

Deanna laughed half-heartedly. "I told you not to joke about things like that."

"Just because your humour differs from mine." The redhead teased. She instantly felt awful when she noticed the frown on her friend's face due to the remembrance of Deanna's father. He died when the girl was young; any mentions of death in front of the brunette would often remind her of the day that he passed away, leaving her with a heavy sadness in her heart.

Ever since halfway through her third year at Hogwarts, Deanna's mother allowed the woman's boyfriend (a year later he became her husband, and Deanna's stepfather) to move into their home. She hated him. Not because he was cruel or unkind, but because he just wasn't the same. He wasn't her father.

Arabella buried her head deeper against her friend's, strands of their hair brushing together. "I'm sorry, Dea. I forgot."

"It's okay, it's just that I haven't forgot. Probably never will."

They sat in the same position for twenty-five minutes onwards, with no need for conversation. They both listened to the noise of the ticking clock, until it was time for Bella to head to Snape's office. Yawning, she grabbed her schoolbag, containing parchment, her wand and her quill - just in case she would need it.

"I better go." She muttered, nothing but dread lacking her voice. In fact, stating that she was dreading this detention would be an understatement.

"Tell me how it goes when we're back in the dorm," Deanna replied with a weak smile. "And don't get yourself into even more trouble."

The redhead forced a giggle. "I won't. I am a Ravenclaw, after all. I need to keep up my well-behaved reputation."

And with that, she left the Common Room.

The walk to Professor Snape's office was dark and dismal. The sky was already blackened, since it was almost winter, and the moon tended to arise earlier in the evening at this certain time of year. Arabella didn't mind though; she found it oddly pleasing (especially when she saw that the moon was crescent and not full, meaning that she would not have another disturbance with Zoe that night).

Having thought about her werewolf roommate, she was surprised when she coincidentally saw the blonde wandering the corridors in her Ravenclaw robes. "Zoe, what are you doing?" At the sound of Bella's voice, her head snapped to the girl behind her. She was fresh-faced and makeup-free, which was a rare sight, yet her hair was perfectly combed and her robes were donned spotless. This made Bella relax a little, since if she was out late to meet someone or to conquer her werewolf transformation, she presumed that Zoe would not be looking so radiant.

"What do you want?" The blonde snapped - nothing unusual for someone of her spiteful persona."I'm just wandering the halls because I'm sick of staying in that dreadful hospital bed."

Arabella held her hands up mock-defensively. "I see that your bark is worse than your bite." She teased, chuckling to herself at the joke she made. It took Zoe a few confused moments to realise that her roommate had caught onto her mysterious secret, and Bella was taken aback when she was shoved against the stone wall.

"How do you know?" She snarled. "Tell me! I thought only Erin knew!"'

"I saw you, idiot." Bella responded coolly. "I saw you in your werewolf form. The night you were burned, remember?"

Zoe violently shoved her further against the wall, causing a painful stinging sensation to surface around her spine. "You did this!" She growled, pointing to her irritated and burned face. Many scars littered her skin, prominently around where her eyebrows and hairline once were. Thankfully, stained bandages covered most areas of the girl's face and neck, because - as horrible as it sounded - Arabella was sure that she would have vomited otherwise. "You did this, Arabella! You did this to me!"

Bella grabbed her roommate's wrist, positive that if she hadn't, Zoe would have most likely attempted to punch her. "No, no, Zoe. I didn't do it to you." She thought of Viktor, and the blazing flames that shot from his wand onto the howling creature. She thought of his protective stance, and the way he held her hand when they guiltily ran away.

"Well, who was it then?" Zoe asked, and his name almost left her lips. Almost.

She then realised that this was not the right thing to do. He would take the blame for her, always, so the least she could do was protect him for this. If Viktor isn't getting the blame, nobody is.

If the opportunity came, of course she would take the blame for him, but considering she had already admitted to Zoe that she wasn't to blame, there was no way to divert that. She would just have to make up an excuse that protected both her and Viktor, because no matter what, she would always protect him like he has done for her.

As if on cue, Professor Snape darted around the corner, momentarily blinding both students with the light emitted from his wand. "Miss Flannery, ah, just the student I was searching for. You are supposed to come to your detention now." He then laid eyes on an angry Zoe whom was once pinning the redhead against the wall, and his permanent frown furthered to a scowl. "Miss Rosenkrands, care to explain why I just witnessed an act of violence?"

Just from observing her body language, Snape could deduce Zoe's previous actions. Whether verbally or physically, he knew that her intentions were nothing but negative. "Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about, Professor." Zoe's guilty tone strangely allowed her once-Dutch accent to become slightly prominent (having lost it since moving to England when she was a toddler).

Snape recognised her tone, and grabbed both students by the hood of their Ravenclaw robes. "I suppose you will now be spending detention together. How delightful for you both."