Closed Even worse than I could've imagined

[Leda Layton]

Leda felt physically sick. She'd barely said a word since reading the paper that morning, and trying to stay around the younger students without showing a sign that something was wrong had been one of the hardest thing she'd had to do. She'd stepped away from the Hufflepuff table, knowing that there was only person she could have trusted enough with something as important and as heavy as this, and her eyes scanned the room for Mervyn. She didn't see her best friend as often as she would have liked since they both had so much going on, but right now no one else was going to understand. As expected he wasn't in the Great Hall, and the Slytherin almost jogged up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room, checking every place she could think of as her mind was blaring more and more out of control. Where was he?! She found him on route after poking her head into the Student Lounge. Walking over and grabbing him by the sleeve, tugging him out the room without saying a word. There was absolutely no way she trusted anyone else with this, not even Zennon would do well to know. She couldn't risk someone overhearing them. Leda had kept the tears back until they'd got into the Hogwarts Monthly room, empty as presumed since most of the members only ever came in here to submit or discuss their articles with her and Josh. After checking the room was clear she turned back to the Gryffindor, not even able to get any words out because her breathing was so heavy. How could she have done this to her own sister?​

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn had skipped breakfast that morning and headed straight to the student lounge to study. With NEWTSs so close, he felt guilty doing anything else - not that all his hard work was going to make much difference. He wasn't cut out for this academic lark. What did grades matter, anyway, in the grand scheme of things? Grades couldn't think him out of a crisis. Grades couldn't give him street smarts. Creativity and ambition were going to take him far further than a slip of paper ever could, and of that he was certain.

He smiled automatically Leda came in, though his bowels shrank when he saw the expression on her face. Uh oh. What had he done? He obliged to let her drag him out of the lounge and into an empty club room. Then she turned to him, and he finally saw that she was crying. "Leda? Woss wrong?" he said, taking her shoulders in his hands. Leda didn't cry. Crying was about the most un-Leda-y thing he could think of. "Talk to me. I'm 'ere."

 

[Leda Layton]

The Head Girl was in a panic as she turned to Mervyn, her best friend, the one that she knew she could trust no matter what, although that wasn't helping the thoughts that was overwhelming her brain. When Mervyn took her shoulders it felt like a wake up call, and she looked upwards towards his face, grounded for a moment. "There was paper this morning." There was a paper every morning so that wasn't going to help much unless she clarified. She took another few breaths before continuing, "Olive was murdered by a werewolf," she was staring longingly into his eyes, willing Mervyn to understand what she meant, but the Gryffindor hadn't been there. She knew she couldn't tell even him who she thought it was, not until she knew for sure, and that she would have to track that person down before she could do anything. Could she do anything? What if it was them? "I.. I spoke to someone. A while ago" she couldn't give him too many explicit details or he'd work it out too, but that wasn't what was important right now. "They needed help Merv," her eyes began to water again at the thought of it, "I told them to go to Olive. I told them.." a fresh wave of tears spilled down her face, and she hastily tried to stop them, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "What if it was them. What if I lead Olive to her death.." After everything they'd been through, she didn't know how she was going to deal with the knowledge that the only reason Olive wasn't here now, was because she'd lead the werewolf straight to her. She'd never really realised just how much of an influence her words could have. ​