Finally Letting Go

Mira sat down next to Isabella.

At first, Isabella was unsure how to start, but she started by explaining her sister's kidnapping. She told her about the room, all trashed, the broken window. Isabella's tears started coming down when she spoke of the locket.

"Even weeks after she.. she was gone, I was constantly having nightmares about it, some nights I'd even have to throw up. I became paranoid of every little noise that I heard at night. My parents had to take me for therapy, I was there for about a year. I haven't had a nightmare in a long time. This happened a couple of years ago. My sister was about to start her first year at Beauxbatons. I was barely nine. She was my best friend... they searched for her for months, but found nothing." Her voice began to shake. "They assumed her dead. She was the start of the many disappearances with kids. That's why we moved here. My parents were afraid that maybe someone would come back for me. I think that the night she was taken, they didn't know I was there.."

She told Mira about all of her pain. Everything that she had felt. It was nothing like talking to a therapist. Her therapist listened in pity, but Mira was different. She understood her.

"Isabella... I'm so sorry..." Mira said. She could have never imagined that it was this bad.

"Even after all the therapy, it would still haunt me every now and then, but telling you... I feel like I've lifted a heavy burden off my shoulders...."

"That's what friends are for. I'll always be here if you need to talk. We may have only just met, but I hope you trust me." Mira trusted Isabella.

"I trust you too."

The two sat on the floor in a comfortable silence for a while, simply staring out the window. That night Isabella slept soundly. Peacefully. No dreams. No nightmares.

But near midnight a noise awakened her. It was a tapping sound, and it seemed to be coming from the window.

It was her owl, Perseus. She opened the window and tried to grab the letter. It refused to give her the letter until she gave him a treat.

"Good job Perseus." She whispered as she opened the letter, careful not to wake Mira with the noise. Looks like Nick had replied.

'Isabella,

It's fine, I understand. Get well, and it's totally ok if you can't make it tomorrow too. And don't worry, Mira told me you probably wouldn't be going to our study session so it was fine.

Sorry if this letter wakes you up. I hope you're not like Michelle when it comes to interrupting sleep. That was horrifying.

-Nick.'

Even though it was late, and she was tired, she decided to write back to him.

'Nick,

I'm curious to know about the whole thing concerning waking Michelle up. Will you tell me tomorrow? Also, I will for sure be there tomorrow for studying, you're not getting out of that.

And why are you up so late??

-Isabella'

Nick was surprised to see Bella's owl back. He really didn't think she'd write back. Might as well keep writing to her. He wasn't tired.

'Bella,

Darn I thought I could get out of studying. You caught me.

I'll tell you about Michelle tomorrow at lunch. Just sit with me after class.

I'm up because I can't sleep.

-Nick'

She let out a small chuckle reading the first line.

'Nick,

You can never get out of studying with me! And yeah I'll sit with you at lunch.

About your sleeping problem- Try reading. That always helps me falls asleep. And speaking of sleep, I'm going to bed now.

Night,

Isabella'

Seeing that, he decided not to write back. She was probably already in bed. So he simply sent the owl back.

Isabella was sort of disappointed when she saw there was no letter in Perseus's beak. Why she even disappointed about not getting a letter from Potter?! She sighed while settling into her comfy bed and quickly fell back into a deep slumber.

Nick took Isabella's advice and read for a while. It was the book he had gotten from the library. He rarely read, because he had Quidditch practice but mostly because he had an image to keep. The 'jock'. His friends would make endless fun of him if they saw him reading a book. Now seemed like a good time, seeing that nobody was around.

He got into the story really fast. It was about the dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald. It was actually quite fascinating.

After a while, his eyes got droopy and he fell asleep.

'Owwww' he thought in the morning. His back was aching, he'd fallen asleep on the book.

He raced to get ready seeing that it was 7:20.

Isabella woke up refreshed, ready to face the boggart. Talking with Mira had truly proven useful. Perhaps she'd ask Mira to be there when she faced the boggart. Maybe that would help.

At breakfast, she was not surprised to see Nick running to his table. His tie messed up, loose, and his hair was unusually messy. But he still managed to look good.