Beau bid Liliane a good night on the landing that separated the staircases of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Tower. February had ended, bringing in the upcoming spring weather of March. Dinner was over, and the students of Hogwarts were making their way to their respective common rooms. Beau had not spoken to Mary MacDonald since the night in the Great Hall where they had found themselves praying together. Not for any specific sort of reason, but mostly because he had been occupied with other things. He’d finally patched things up with Liliane, which had done a lot to improve his mood. Not to mention, Glenda had returned to Hogwarts, and they were nearing the end of the school year. He had been trying to focus on those things, lest he be reminded of how unhappy he was here in Scotland.
It seemed that he was to be united with Mary MacDonald again, however. After saying goodbye to Liliane, he continued on up the stairs, a light smile on his face as he did. He was nearing the landing on the sixth floor when he heard the haunting laughter of Peeves the Poltergeist coming from the top of the seventh floor staircase. Beau froze, eyes darting from left to right. Without even thinking, he took off to the left, wanting to get away as far as he could from that laughter. Beau had learned his lessons about going head to head with Hogwarts’ local head of mischief and he wasn’t about to forget them today. Maybe he could find a hidden passage up to the seventh floor. He was learning this area of the castle fairly well, considering its proximity to his common room. It was in this sixth floor corridor that he heard a strange sort of noise.
He debated on whether he should inspect the noise, worried that it may be another trick of Peeves. But then the noise grew in volume, becoming easier for him to decipher. To his surprise, it was the voice of a girl. Curiously, he continued down the hall towards the source of the sound. As he grew nearer and nearer, he began to hear the growing sounds of a thumping. He pushed open a door, just in time for the girl – was that Mary? – to finish her words. He stepped inside. It was definitely Mary, it seemed. “Mary? Are… are you alright?”
She had been counting on a little privacy. Surely that wasn’t too much to hope for - this time of day, most people were on their way back to their common rooms or the library or somewhere else that wasn’t a classroom. But fate or God had other plans and she spun around as she heard the voice. It took her a minute to recognize it, although the accent was not one that could easily be mistaken. “Beau. I’m fine.” How many times had she said that over the past few weeks? Too many to count, and every time had been a lie, or at least a half-truth. This time it was definitely a lie and not even a convincing one, especially if he heard her yelling. That would be really embarrassing. She wasn’t supposed to lose her head and hit things and scream into the air.
Reaching up, she brushed her hands over her face. She hadn’t been crying yet, although there were tears in her eyes, but she felt hot and there was a thin layer of sweat on her face. Probably from the yelling. “I just needed a minute, that’s all. Are you all right? What time is it? I was on my way back to the common room and I just . . .” She stopped, not sure what to say, and instead finishing with a shrug.
