Secrets Shared || Bertha & Rita
It seemed like there had been a switch that Bertha had managed to flip inside of Rita. She was no longer sad or confused looking, but more excited than Bertha had ever seen her up close. Although she really hadn’t ever been up close to Rita Skeeter until today. Either way, Bertha was listening to every word that came out of Rita’s mouth, like she spoke in the gold of words. All of Rita’s excitement was being transferred to Bertha, in turn as well.
“Okay, yeah! We could go now, I’d love to see it!” Bertha was bursting now, at the thought of getting to be inside Rita’s very own office. She had always wondered where Rita could always get away to, to scheme and such for all of her journalistic tendencies without people ridiculing her every move. Bertha could never find any privacy in her dorm, even, let alone the common room or the library. It seemed like there were thousands of hiding places in this castle, yet Bertha could find none of them. It was really quite pitiful.
Upon seeing the Quick Quotes Quill, Bertha’s eyes widened considerably. She had never seen anything like it. She vaguely wondered if Rita had come up with this fascination herself, or if she had maybe just snagged it from some shop in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. It was just so beautiful, with it’s bright green feathers that seemed to take up all of the space between them. It wasn’t until Rita brought her notebook out and Bertha watched as the quill scribbled down everything that Rita was saying.
“Where did you get such a wonderful thing, Rita?” Bertha asked curiously as she ogled at it, not realizing that Rita was already on the move to her office. Following Rita, who had now taken full charge of the situation and was moving at an alarming rate for just her feet, Bertha couldn’t stop thinking about all of the great things that the two of them were going to accomplish. There was an endless list of possibilities. Maybe I’ll even be able to figure out what to do after Hogwarts, Bertha thought smugly, a smile of hope stuck on her face as she glided off after Rita.
As Rita strutted through the school, her sly grin cleared the way for the two of them. Passing other students, she recognised the mixed look of fear and disgust in their eyes. She knew that they wanted to tell her how despicable she was, how much of a horrid person she was. But they were too fearful of her vicious quill and the lies she could conjure with it. There were only a few, Gryffindors mostly, that wouldn't bother to give her a second glance.
Rita was too lost in thought to register the question at first but soon replied smugly: "It belonged to Mnemosyne Skeeter, one of the oldest witches of my family. She too had a keen eye for delicacies such as this quill." She swerved through a gathering of second years and could now see her 'office'. Turning around to check that Bertha was still with her, she announced "here we are," and pushed open the door with some effort.
This was a larger broom cupboard than most in the school, with plenty of room to stand up straight (an impressive quality for a cupboard of Hogwarts). Rita had set up shop here many months ago, her desk and set of drawers fit snugly - as if their position had been thoroughly thought out. She made herself comfortable now and slung her bags into a dainty armchair that was impractically small for an average-sized human. It's pink velour cover released a sigh of air as the weight of the bags landed on it. Rita threw herself into what she had named her 'writer's chair' which sat proudly behind her desk. She looked to Bertha and said "just make yourself comfortable, anywhere will do."
This wasn't the most tactful offer as, spacious as it was, there were only two chairs in the cupboard and both were occupied. Nonetheless, Rita glossed over this detail and began to mutter ideas to her quill. She blabbered thoughts for several minutes before beginning to share them with her new found partner. When she was ready, she beamed at Bertha and said "so, tell me what you had in mind..."
