Coral Fernsby ~ Chapter Ten

Instructions

Coral and her friends swam through the grounds searching for anything. Coral was starting to give up when she turned around and saw something shiny. She swam over and picked it up…it was a silver bracelet. She signaled for her friends to meet above the water. She showed them the bracelet, “Look what I found!” “A bracelet?” Lainey said, looking curiously at the silver band. “I-I think that’s Bella’s!” Whitney said excitedly, pointing at the bracelet. “What is Bella’s bracelet doing in the water?” Flynn asked. “Maybe she lost it before the flooding started?” Coral suggested. “Heck no, she hates being outside,” Flynn said. “That means she’s been out here!” Said Lainey. “Or it could have been when I saw her spying on Flynn,” Coral pointed out. They all dove back down to search. After half an hour of swimming around pointlessly, finding nothing more than a friendly fish, they all met back up at the surface. “Did you find anything?” asked Lainey. “Nothing, what about you?” Whitney says. “Nope…” Lainey replied. “I think we should go back before we get caught out here…” Coral said anxiously. “Do you think no one will notice us with wet hair and robes?” Flynn asked. “Don’t worry, I know just the charm,” Lainey assured them. Coral just now noticed that her sodden robes were weighing her down and her wet hair stuck to her face. She tucked a soggy strand behind her ear and started swimming to the castle. She wondered for a moment how her hair got wet despite the bubble around her head. Maybe, she thought, maybe it only provides air and to keep your head dry…not hair… They snuck inside the castle and Lainey used a clever Drying Charm to dry them all off before popping the Bubble-Head Charm. “That was a waste of time…” Whitney sighed as they trooped back to the common room. “At least we found Bella’s bracelet!” Coral chirped. “Ooh, I have an idea!” said Lainey, “Coral, you should wear that bracelet and see if she notices!” Coral laughed, “I will!” Later that night, Coral sat cross-legged on her bed, petting Bear. Lainey was reading on her bed while Whitney sat with Coral, practicing the Hovering Charm on her pillow. Bear purred loudly as Whitney’s pillow started hovering. She looked cheerful as she stood up to grab it. Whitney yawned. Whitney collapsed onto her own bed. Coral flopped onto her pillow, staring at the ceiling. At that moment, Maya Junebug and Alyssa Greenway entered the dormitory. Coral, Whitney, and Lainey agreed they wouldn’t tell anyone about their little investigation, and they hoped Flynn wouldn’t tell anyone either. “Where’ve you been?” Demanded Alyssa as she went over to her bed. “What?” Lainey said. “You weren’t at dinner. Nobody saw you, Coral, Whitney or Flynn since class ended…” Maya said slowly. Coral didn’t look Maya or Alyssa in the eye as she said, “We were—in the library….” “We checked the library, you weren’t there,” Alyssa said, squinting suspiciously at Coral. “Really?” Said Lainey, after some quick thinking, “When? That might’ve been when we went back to the common room to grab something of Whitney’s.” Maya and Alyssa didn’t look convinced. They dropped the subject, though and changed into their pajamas. Around 2:00 am, Coral woke. She sat up and looked around the dormitory. Whitney was muttering something that sounded like, “Scorpion..scorpion…” Coral knew her well enough to tell that she was trying to say “Scorpius.” It was Saturday, so she had the whole day to herself. What would she do? Thousands of possibilities drifted through her mind, things like, get food from the kitchens, draw mustaches on her sleeping friends, read a book, play with Bear…. She decided to read a book in the common room with Bear. Coral changed quietly out of her pajamas and debated with book to read. Her two favorites, Quidditch Throughout the Ages, or Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them were her top two. She choose the Quidditch book. She called to Bear and the two of them went out into the round common room. Coral chose the best, softest, chair and opened the book, while Bear purred, rubbing his furry brown head against the corner of the book. It was nice, in this warm common room lit by fires, the dim light of lanterns and decorative fairies, the only noise was deep purring and the gentle sound of the page being turned in a book.