The Outcasts Of Hogwarts

Chapter 12 Unwanted Fame

Amaris woke up to the familiar feeling of a tiny feathered head nuzzling her ear, she opened her eyes and blinked in the pale yellow light of early morning. She lifted herself onto her elbows with a groan, before collapsing back onto her pillow, her eyes firmly shut. She'd only managed a few hours of sleep and usually, she wouldn't get up until past midday.

"Urgh! Stop!" She grumbled jerking her head, Pachua had stuck his tongue in her ear, "Fine! Fine, I'm getting up." Rolling over, she sat up and stretched, causing practically every joint to give an alarmingly loud click. Yawning widely, she smelt iron and ran her hand under her nose to find it smeared in drying blood. "Yet another nose bleed," she sighed in frustration as she cleaned her face, "why do I have to have lessons right after the Shift?"

She unlocked the curtains and peered out into the room, everyone else had already gone to breakfast, she'd have to hurry to avoid being late. Her eyes fell on her bedside table. Amaris smiled, a plate of cold pasta and chicken had been placed there, "So they do care." Then her face fell, "And they noticed something was wrong."

She put the plate on her lap and began to eat, at least this saved her having to go down to the great hall, she could go straight to Dumbledore's office. It was only then that she noticed a torn out page from the Daily Prophet. At the top of the page was a picture of a face she had thought she would never have to see again.

Amaris arrived at Dumbledore's office almost in a trance, her school bag in one hand and the Daily Prophet extract in the other. She stood in front of the griffin statue for a few moments before the sound of approaching footsteps snapped her out of it. After shaking her head, she opened her mouth to speak the password.

"So this is where you are," said a voice behind her, "your friends were worried about you." Amaris turned to find the tall figure of the Headmaster walking towards her. He stopped a few paces away and looked her up and down, when his eyes fell on the piece of paper in her hand, he said "Let's talk in my office."

"First thing first, you can't seal yourself into your bed for the best part of a day. Professor McGonagall was very worried when Miss Granger informed her. I understand that you are not used to sharing a room with others but they will respect your privacy. The fact that Hermione waited until the morning to inform anyone is proof of that. You must promise to never do it again, do you understand?"

Amaris nodded guiltily. Then Dumbledore's expression softened.

"I am truly sorry that the daily prophet has published this article," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the extract lying on the desk between them, "they should not have mentioned you so blatantly but they very rarely think of the consequences of their actions. Except for the impact on their sales, of course."

Of course, the article was not the reason she had been so out of sorts the past day or so, as she had only read it that morning. The cause of that was thankfully still a mystery to everyone, the newspaper being a good excuse to stop people hunting around for another reason. Not that she saw it that way at the time. After all, she had now read the article and her mind was fuzzy with homesickness and isolation.

"Everyone will know by now, won't they?" She asked, "how am I supposed to fit in now?"

"Your true friends will stand by you," he replied, she gave him a doubtful look, "Mr Weasley and Miss Granger. And Mr Potter especially, he has some experience with unwanted fame."

Amaris wasn't so sure. She'd only met them a month ago, they sat and did homework together, they played card games but she didn't feel like she really knew them. They didn't talk about important things. They didn't trust her enough for that and so she didn't trust them enough in return. Would they be there for her if she really needed them? Would they stay with her if they knew the truth? Amaris didn't know. The only people she truly trusted were out of her reach.