Bella's POV - The Next Morning

I wake up and I can't see. I reach around for my glasses before I find them. I put my glasses on and I look around confused.

"Your in the Hufflepuff common room Dear." Professor Pomfrey says to me with a warm smile as I get up quickly.

"Oh dear, I'm gonna be in so much trouble with Lily." I say worried and I continue worrying about what's gonna happen and Professor Pomfrey watches me.

"Hey, calm down dear, all this worrying isn't good for you." Professor Pomfrey says to me gently as she puts her hands on my shoulders. "I let McGonnagal know where you were last night and she alerted your house prefect. Your not in trouble. You'll be ok. Now breath." Professor says to me and I nod.

I try to relax and I breath.

"Alright dear, go back to your house." Professor says to me and I nod.

I leave quietly and quickly. I head back to the house and Lily is there, tapping her foot, waiting for me.

"Where were you?" Lily asks me.

"The Hufflepuff Common room." I say quietly.

Lily sighs. "Better there than lost in the castle I guess. But why were you there? We had a house party and you missed it." Lily says to me.

"She doesn't like parties Lily. She goes out of her way to avoid conflict and confrontation." Remus says as he walks over to me.

"Still, we won the game because of her, she could have at least attended." Lily says to Remus.

"I did, for, like 2, hours." I say meekly and Remus squeezes my shoulder gently.

"You don't have to be there if you don't want to be there. Everyone knows you don't deal well with large crowds." Remus reminds me.

"Still would have been nice to Party with her though." Lily puffs her cheek up in a pout.

"It's not that I don't like large crowds, I just don't like loud noises, I just find it uncomfortable, especially when I get made the center of attention constantly, that's, not really ideal for me, it's just overall uncomfortable." I say to the two. "Because I do well in classes, and during meals, and generally there's larger crowds, I'm fine during games and what not, but that's because it's not too loud, and I'm not the center of attention." I say to them.

"But you were taught to be a hostess, were you not? So you should be fine with parties." Lily says to me.

"I was taught to stay out of the way and take up as little space as possible." I say to Lily and she stops what she was going to say while Remus frowns.

"It couldn't have been that bad." Lily says to me.

I just want to leave, this whole situation makes me uncomfortable.

I sigh softly, giving up. "Fine. Whatever." I say and I leave the house again.

Remus's POV

"Did I upset her?" Evans asks me.

"Unfortunately Evans, what she told you, was only scratching the surface of what her parents used to do to her." I say to her and Lily looks surprised. "Don't ever say those words to her again Evans, because she's had it a lot worse than anybody in this house. So just let her skip out on the parties. It's a lot easier for her to not attend and it gives her time to herself or at least a quiet time with a small group to unwind after being the center of attention." I say to Evans who pouts slightly but nods.

Bella's POV

"Hey Bella." James says as he walks up next to me.

I look at him and I nod. "Hi James." I say for him.

"Where were you last night?" James asks me.

"The Hufflepuff common room." I say quietly and James nods.

"Probably for the best, the girls were out of control and were partying a bit too hard." James says to me, totally accepting it.

We talk as we walk down the halls towards the Great Hall.

"You seem a bit quiet today, everything alright?" James asks me.

"Not really, but it's not too bad." I say to James and he stares at me for a moment.

"What happened?" James asks me and I look down slightly, not sure I want to elaborate since it's about Lily.

"It was just some conflict between me and Lily and me not attending the party yesterday." I say to James.

"You were there though, for a few hours, which is better than you not attending at all. Then everyone invaded the kitchens and you disappeared again." James says to me.

"Yeah, Evans pulled me into the Hufflepuff Common Room. I don't think the Hufflepuff Prefect likes me very much. Professor Sprout had wanted me to stay for a while, but he was against it." I say to James and he nods.

"Speaking of, their game is Friday, want to watch with me? I was gonna see how well the Hufflepuff team has been doing recently so I can determine how to play against their seeker next game." James says to me.

"I was already planning on going. I gave Evans some tips on how to try and win against Slytherin, I want to see if the Hufflepuff chasers utilize those tips at all." I say to James who nods.

"Alright, it's settled then." James says to me with a grin and I smile at that.

Lily walks by us while talking to Snape and I listen to hear her talking about our earlier conversation and it's not very light hearted.

James looks slightly upset when he hears that she said my trauma isn't that bad.

I frown slightly and I decide I don't want Lunch. "If you hungry, you can keep going to lunch, I just lost my appetite, so I'm gonna go and read outside for a bit." I say to James quietly.

James frowns. "I'm gonna join you, I don't know how to feel about what Evans was saying." James says to me and I nod.

James studies while I read Herbology and I just constantly get reminded of my earlier conversation.

I end up setting my book down, curling into myself and James looks up worried.

James sits next to me and he reads while keeping me company as I sit in my thoughts,  knowing I don't want to talk.

Sirius joins us after a bit and he sits in front of me and watches intently and then Remus shows up and sits next to me, taking my hand gently.

"Bad day?" Sirius asks us.

"Uber bad." James replies and Sirius nods.

Remus is quiet but he squeezes my hand, that small gesture gives me some comfort, but I still don't feel like talking.

Eventually I look up and I get up, everyone watching me. "I want cookies." I say and Remus smirks.

"Well I have to go meet with a teacher for some extra credit, I'll see you guys later." Remus says as he gets up.

"I have to go hit on Marlene now." Sirius says as he looks at the sky, and then gets up.

"And I'm going to join you Bella." James says as he grabs his books and my book and gets up.

Me and James goes to the kitchens and he studies and forces me to study with him as I bake cookies.

"It's boring, I know this already." I say to James who looks at me amused.

"And how do you know this stuff?" James asks me.

I think. "I just do." I say to James who laughs.

I eat cookies while I study with James and the house elves work around us.

Lily ends up in here with Snape and she's hushing him as they come in and then sees me and James studying.

"What are you two doing in here? Isn't it against the rules?" Snape asks us annoyed.

I stare at the two.

"I don't abide by the rules." James announces.

"I'm an exception to the rules." I say quieter.

"Why are you two here?" James asks them.

"We smelled cookies." Lily says to us.

Professor McGonnagal comes in and sees me and James sitting at a table with books open and a plate of cookies between us and Lily and Snape standing nearby with James about to argue with Snape.

"Miss Potter, what's going on here?" Professor asks me.

"I made cookies for me and James as he was forcing me to study with him, then Lily and Snape walked in Professor." I say to her.

"I see, and Miss Potter, what are you and Mister Potter doing in the kitchen to begin with on a beautiful day?" Professor asks me.

"We were already outside today Professor and I haven't been having a good day. So I wanted cookies and I made cookies to distract myself." I say to Professor.

"I see and Mister Potter followed you then?" Professor asks me and I nod.

"Yes Professor." I say to her.

"Well I suppose since your doing something useful by studying and being productive, then I'll let it slide on your end Potters, however, Miss Evens and Mister Snape, you two are to leave the kitchens. And Potters, you two are to head back to your house or somewhere else to study." Professor says to me.

"Yes Professor." I say to her and she smiles.

"I would like to try one of your cookies on your way out Miss Potter." Professor says to me and I smile at that.

Me and James clean up our mess quickly as Lily and Snape leave.

As we're leaving, I stop in front of Professor and she takes a cookie from my plate and tries it.

"I'll have to take these, just to check for poison." Professor says as she takes the plate and walks away. James laughs while I pout slightly.

"Let's go to the Great Hall." James says to me and I nod.

We walk to the Great Hall while I quiz him on what we were studying.

We sit next to the lit fireplace and I continue studying with James for a while.

"You two have been sitting here for hours." Marlene says as she sits next to me.

"We've been studying." James says to her with a grin.

"Bella, studying?" Sirius asks as he hangs over my shoulder.

"Hey, can I join you guys?" Evans asks and I look up at him.

James scowls slightly.

"Sure." I say to Evans who sits next to us with his book and he looks at what were studying.

"Bella." James whines quietly.

"Hey, we never actually introduced, I'm Thomas Evans." Evans says to James and Sirius.

Sirius stares at him for a moment. "Sirius Black." Sirius says to him.

James sighs. "I'm James Potter." James says to him with a grin, trying to be nice.

"Marlene McKinnon." Marlene says to him with a grin.

I smile slightly and I help Evans with what he doesn't understand.

"Thanks Potter." Evans says to me with a grin.

I nod and James pouts next to me. "Are you jealous?" I ask James quietly and James freezes.

"No." James pouts and I smile, amused at that, since he's clearly lying.

When it comes dinner time, I sit at the table with the other Gryffindors.

I eat as Lily occasionally looks up at me and then back at her plate, not saying anything to me.

"Hey Potter, by the way, it's gonna be cold on game days now, since your tiny, and well little in everything, I suggest you might start wearing warmer clothes." Captain suggests.

"Thanks for the suggestion Captain, I'll make sure to wear my scarf." James says to him with a grin and I silently thank James for taking that.

"I was talking to your sister." Captain says to me.

"I'm not a girl." Sirius says to him.

I snicker quietly as Sirius gets extremely dramatic at Captain who in turn, looks really nervous.

When dinner is over, I notice Remus wasn't here and I get slightly worried about him.

The next day

I have a hunch that Remus is in the infirmary since this happens occasionally.

I get to the infirmary after classes are over and I see Remus there, just like I had suspected.

"Miss Potter are you feeling unwell?" Madam Pomfrey asks me.

"I just had a hunch my friend was in here today Ma'am, am I able to sit with him or is he still under major treatment?" I ask her.

Madam Pomfrey looks me up and down and then sighs. "Go on." She says and lets me go sit next to Remus who is asleep.

I copy my notes from classes today for Remus as I sit in a chair next to him.

It's another hour, but Remus groans quietly.

I look over and Remus opens his eyes, his eyes are full black and that concerns me until he blinks and his eyes go back to normal.

Remus looks over and sees me. "Bella?" Remus asks quietly, confused.

"I just had a hunch you were in here." I say to him and Remus groans softly and rubs his face, his hand is bandaged and he's got a new bandaid on his face.

Concern wells in my chest for him, but I don't ask what's going on.

"Sorry if I worried you Bella." Remus mutters.

"It's quite alright Remus. Just focus on recovering. I copied my notes for you already." I say to Remus who huffs slightly.

I smile slightly as he complies but looks unhappy about it and I fill him in on stuff that happened today.

Remus chuckles when I tell him that I hexed Sirius to have a pig tail today without him realizing because he annoyed me with his teasing.

"Miss Potter?" Professor McGonnagal asks as she walks in with Professor Dumbledore.

"I let her in because she's in here with him every single time this happens Minerva, she's quiet and she helps him recover quicker and relieves his worry." Madam Pomfrey whispers to Professor McGonnagal.

"I suppose it can't be helped, I'd have thought you'd be trying to get your brother out of detention through Miss Potter." Professor McGonnagal says to me.

"I only help James escape when he begs me to help him." I say to Professor McGonnagal and she smiles at that.

"Your cookies yesterday were really delicious though Miss Potter. You'll have to make more sometime." Professor McGonnagal says to me.

I pout. "Uh huh." I pout and Professor Dumbledore chuckles at that.

"Miss Potter, we'd like to talk to Mister Lupin for a little bit, so if you'd kindly leave please." Professor Dumbledore says to me.

Remus looks worried about this, so I think quietly.

"Nope." I say to them and the two Professors stare at me surprised. "I'm only gonna leave if I know Remus doesn't have a reason to worry." I say to the two Professors.

Professor Dumbledore chuckles at that. "It's quite alright Miss Potter, we were just gonna talk about his classes and how the staff is gonna be working around him getting this monthly illness." Professor Dunbledore says to me.

I raise an eyebrow, thinking that's a load of bs and not buying it.

"It's ok Bella, you can come back later hopefully." Remus says to me.

I stare at my friend for a moment. "Alright." I say reluctantly and I get up, taking my books with me.

I head back to the house and James is with Sirius, James is just laughing while Sirius is spinning in circles trying to see his pig tail.

"How's Lupin?" Longbottom asks me.

"He came down with a bad cold yesterday while he was doing some extra credit, so he's resting. Professor McGonnagal wanted to talk to him about what to do with his schoolwork, so I'll be heading back later." I say to Longbottom.

"Well at least it's something he'll recover from." Longbottom says to me and I know about his mother with the dragon pox.

I nod slightly. "Things get easier over time." I say to him quietly and Longbottom manages a weak smile at that.

I head to my dorm room and I put my books down.

I take a shower and then I relax in the common room with James and Sirius.
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