29 December 2015

SEHE; Chapter 9

Friday October 31 [24w 4d]

"Have a wonderful afternoon, everyone. I hope to see you all at the dance later this evening." I gather up my books and leave my last class of the day before heading to lunch. We get the afternoon off because it's Halloween. I'm hoping to catch a nap before the dance.

"Bell!" I stop and turn around, surprised to see Keelan jogging up behind me. I hug my book to my chest. "Uhm, so are you going to the dance with anyone?"

"Lena and I are walking down together, but I'm not going with anyone specific." He nods while looking at his shoes. "Why do you ask?"

"Well.. I mean, we've always gone together so I wondered if this year would be the same." What?

"Keelan, we're not dating anymore. As far as I can see you're with Penelope. Does she know you're asking me this?" He grimaces a little.

"No. I'm not with her, really." I sigh and spot Lena down the corridor, waiting for me.

"Look, I don't know what's going on with you and her and frankly I don't care. I'm moving on, Keelan, and I suggest you do the same." I walk past him. As I near Lena I can see she's glaring at a point behind me. I suspect it's Keelan. I don't stop and she joins me to the Great Hall.

"What did he want?"

"He asked if I'm going to the dance with anyone."

"Are you serious? Has he gone mental? What does it matter to him? Isn't he going with Penelope?" I shrug.

"I don't know. It all gave me a headache. I told him to move on."

"Good. Right git. Does he assume that you're going to just be fine now that he knows you're pregnant?" I look around quickly.

"Quiet, Lena." She dismisses me.

"Come on, don't be stupid. The dress you're wearing later hides nothing." I sigh.

"I'm freaking out, okay?" We sit at the Ravenclaw table and I take a sip of water. I haven't been able to hold much down the past few days.

"When do you see Madame P?"

"Tomorrow."

"Any movements?"

"Some. They're kind of like nudges, but from the inside. It's hard to describe." Lena gets a wistful look on her face. I just smile at her.

"I can't wait to feel them from out here." I laugh.

"No one is touching the belly, sorry." She grins and stuffs a sandwich in her mouth.

I eat as much as I can before heading up to the tower and my bed. The fates have decided to be kind because I get a few hours sleep and bonus; I don't throw any of my lunch up.

+++

"Almost done, Bell. Just a few more minutes." I scoff.

"You said that 15 minutes ago. I'm leaving in 5 whether or not you're done." I see Lena roll her eyes in the mirror. She's spent the last hour working on my makeup and hair. The other girls above 4th year are crowding the mirrors and gossiping about who knows what.

I'm still very nervous about going to this dance at all. Lena was right - the dress hides nothing. Everyone will know once I step outside my dormitory. "Okay, done! Now put this on so I can see the full masterpiece." She hands me the dress and all but shoves me into a toilet stall. I change as quickly as I can, which is getting more complicated by the day, and emerge from the stall in the dress Lena picked out. It's silver, has a plunging neckline, an empire waist and ends at the floor. It's beautiful. "Oh, see, look at you! You're gorgeous. Let me just change and we can walk down."

I turn and look at myself in the wall mirror. I'm suddenly acutely aware of how quiet the bathroom has gotten. I feel myself turn a deep shade of red. "Uh.. Bell.." I look at each of the girls in turn.

"I'll just say this once. Yes I am pregnant. No I will not tell anyone who the father is. I will not even confirm or deny that he goes to this school. If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer them. The only thing I ask is that no one makes up any rumours because I will know who started them. You girls are the only ones who know." The silence continues for a few awkward moments before I'm bombarded with questions.

"How far along are you?"
"Is it a girl or a boy?"
"When are you due?"
"How will you keep up your studies after it's born?"
"Are you excited?"
"How have you kept quiet for so long?"


Luckily Lena steps in and saves me. "Okay ladies. That's enough for now. Bell and I are going down to the dance." She hooks my arm with her own and leads me out of the dormitory. I squeeze her hand.

"Thank you for that." She squeezes mine back.

"You did amazing. I'm very proud of you."

"13 girls down, only everyone else to go." I get a lot of stares as we walk down to the Great Hall. Plenty of people don't even bother to hide the fact that they talk about me. I hear a lot of whispers. I'm about to back out when I round the last corner to see Draco, standing and waiting for me, looking handsome in his deep emerald dress robes. When he sees me and Lena his mouth kind of drops a little before he regains his composure. I hear Lena snicker.

"Good evening, Draco. You're looking very dapper. Why yes, it is a pleasant evening, Annabel. And I do say, you're quite ravishing yourself." Lena gives my arm back to me. "There, now that that awkwardness is out of the way, you two can enjoy your evening."

"Where are you going?" Her eyes dart quickly to Draco before settling back to me.

"I heard a rumour that Justin Gharrity said he'd like to get with this, so I'm going to see if it's true. I'll find you later, Bell." I watch her walk off and I just shake my head.

"What am I going to do with her?" Draco chuckles and offers me his arm.

"I haven't a clue. I do, however, have a table reserved for us." I take his arm and he leads me into the Hall.

"What?"

"I asked Goyle to get us a table while I waited for you."

"Do you even know their first names?" He shrugs.

"Not really." I laugh as I look around. The Hall looks incredible. There are small tables scattered all over the place, a large dance floor, and a few larger tables with all types of food and drink on them. Draco steers me to the left side of the room, to a table nearest the food. He pulls my chair out for me and I sit. "Do you want anything to eat?" I shake my head.

"No. Stomach is still a tad queasy." Instead of getting food for himself he sits down beside me. "You can eat if you're hungry, Draco."

"I'm fine. She was right, by the way. You do look lovely." I feel myself blush.

"I believe the word she used was ravishing." Draco grins and his eyes spark in a way that makes my stomach flip. He pushes some stray hair out of my face and I swear we're the only people in the universe at this moment. My blush deepens and his grin turns into a smile.

"You're really cute when you blush." I laugh, the spell is broken and the noises come rushing back in. Just in time for me to spot Keelan walking toward us. He looks troubled. Draco's eyes narrow as Keelan stops a few feet away from the table.

"Could I talk with you for a minute, Malfoy?" I look at Keelan in surprise. Never would I have guessed he'd want to talk to Draco, much less ask to. Draco and I look at each other and I shrug.

"Okay, but only a minute." I watch them walk toward the wall before Keelan speaks. It's too loud to hear what they're saying, but neither look angry or murderous. Draco's arms are crossed and he's leaning against the wall. Keelan is doing most of the talking. Draco looks my way a couple times and at one point he actually smiles. Smiling, while talking to Keelan? What is going on? After a few minutes Draco walks back to me and Keelan just watches him. Even from here I can tell that he's sad.

"What the hell did you two talk about?" Draco is silent for a few seconds before answering.

"It's been requested that I don't tell you. Really, I have no reason to respect his wishes, but I'm going to anyway." I stare at him incredulously, my brain not seeming to compute this information. "I will tell you, though, that he isn't going to bother you anymore."

"What do you mean; bother?"

"I think you know what I mean, Bell." I look at the spot Keelan was standing but he's gone now. My heart drops a little as I realize what Draco meant.

"He's backing out." Draco's silence confirms it. I sit back in my chair, tears threatening to spill over. I suddenly want to be out of the Hall, away from everyone. "I'm going to go back to my room, okay?" Without waiting for an answer I get up and make my way out of the Hall.