Arabella Black, The Daughter Of Padfoot (Redux)

Chapter 18

 The night before,

Halloween, for the last ten years, had always been a rough time for Primrose Evans. The guilt would resurface, dredging up a lifetime of regrets with it, and she would drink until she forgot her name— along with everything else.

But being back at Hogwarts felt like every day was Halloween, except she could no longer drink until she was belligerent. Instead, Primrose nursed a cheap, almost empty bottle of wine in her new professor's quarters and mulled over what she should tell Harry and Arabella.

With each day that passed she came close to telling them the truth but she would catch a flash of green eyes and a mischievous smile and would flee instead.

There was no easy way to tell either child why she hadn't been there. While Hogwarts was a magical and exhilarating place, her time in the halls had been vastly different.

"That bastard" Primrose had been yelling, "I thought he was our friend!"

"I know, Prim," Her twin sister replied softly, half trying to console her sister half trying to console herself, "I know"

"It's those stupid Slytherins' he associates himself with" Primrose paced the floor of the common room, throwing her hands around as she spoke, "He isn't like them, he wasn't like them before but... that doesn't give him the right to call you that name!"

Their best friend, Diana Volkov, sighed as she sat next to Lily on the couch, "I know nothing can excuse him calling you a mudblood but," She paused, and rubbed her eyes tiredly, "James and Sirius provoked him— maybe he didn't mean it"

Primrose paused, glaring at her best friend, "Don't get me started on your boyfriend and his best friend. When I'm finished with them, they'll be lucky to have kids" She snarled. Diana winced, but didn't say anything else as Primrose continued to rant.

"I told them, repeatedly, to leave Severus alone. Why couldn't they listen?"

The fireplace started to crackle furiously, sparking with Primrose's fury. Lily quickly grabbed her sister's hand, and squeezed gently in an effort to calm her, "Calm down, Prim, before you hurt yourself" She warned, pulling her sister in-between Diana and herself, "He being a wanker but we all just need to calm down"

"He told me you deserved it for standing up for him" Primrose whispered, angry tears pooling her eyes.

Diana rested a hand on Primrose's knee, "I think Lily's right— you need to take a break from each other. I may not know Severus like you do but I know he's smarter than to become a death eater" She tried to assure her friends, "What James and Sirius do to him is disgusting and Severus's finally had enough and snapped, it's neither of your faults"

Quietly, the three girls sat together until Primrose began to feel smothered. She stood, ripping both Diana and Lily's hand off her, and walked towards the portrait out.

"Where are you going?" Diana called after the redhead.

"I need some air" Primrose shouted back, her voice thick with tears. She skulked towards the Black Lake, half hoping that Severus or the boys were still there so she could give them a piece of her mind.

But the lake was abandoned from its earlier excitement.

Primrose collapsed under the big tree, shouting to herself in anger. Severus was their friend; he knew what that word meant to them and other muggleborns.

She buried her face in her hands, stewing in her anger until a deep chuckle startled her. Primrose scrambled for her wand until she realised it was in the common room.