[010] already hurt

                                                    After what had happened, rumors about Tom's infidelity had spread like wildfire. Despite Tom trying to plead his case to Camille by saying Violet had set the whole thing up, Camille just wouldn't listen. Her heart was broken and her pride was bruised. Had the golden boy of Hogwarts really try to take advantage of the most beautiful girl in school by cheating on her with her ex-best friend?

                                                   Regardless of what had happened, everyone was feeling pretty sorry for Camille. She could see it in the way they looked at her with that stupid pity. Camille was embarrassed but most of all, she was betrayed and heartbroken. Once again, Camille found herself doing what she did best - crying her eyes out and having her sister comfort her. Well, she was trying to.

                                                 "I just knew that Tom was no good for you. There was something off about him. I never thought he was even the slightest bit genuine," Victoire says, arms folded across her chest, while Camille flopped down onto her bed with a groan.

                                                 "I don't know what I did wrong. Was I not enough? Did I bore him somehow? I thought that I was doing everything right. How could he have done this to me?" Camille shakes her head.

                                                   She replayed their relationship over and over again in her mind but she couldn't come up with the answers. Tom had been nothing short of a gentleman to her and there hadn't been any sign or warning that he'd do something like this to her. That's what made it all the more alarming.

                                                  "How many times do I have to tell you? It's not you, it's him. Tom isn't perfect and he never has been. He's hiding something, I just know it," Victoire says, causing Camille to suddenly sit up as she looked at her sister.

                                                 "What is the conspiracy this time?" Camille folded her arms across her chest. "I know you have one that you're just dying to tell me so you can prove how right you are."

                                                   "I saw Tom last night, doing something odd. Before you say anything, I found him in the abandoned girls' bathroom... by himself," Victoire began.

                                                  "The abandoned girls' bathroom? But isn't that where that poor muggle girl died two years ago?" Camille frowns.

                                                    From what Camille could remember about Myrtle Warren, she was an emotional girl who didn't deserve to die. She was the victim of Olive Hornby's cruel bullying, often crying in the very bathroom she'd die in two years prior. As far as everyone knew, the cause of Myrtle's untimely death (along with the deaths of several other students) would be an acromantula, one owned by a Rubeus Hagrid who once went to school with the rest of them. But the giant was ultimately expelled, and the attacks stopped.

                                                 Rumors went around that Myrtle's ghost went after Olive, harassing her the same way she had been harassed in life. Maybe there was some truth to it because Olive had immediately changed after Myrtle's death. She was troubled, retreating into herself and becoming a hollow shell. She was no different than the ghosts that roamed the halls and even then, they were far livelier than Olive turned out to be.

                                                 It made Camille wonder what business he had in there if Victoire's story was true.

                                               "If that wasn't strange enough, I saw him walking over to one of the sinks. He was whispering something. It certainly wasn't like any human language I had ever heard," Victoire continued, shaking her head.

                                                Camille raised a brow. "Do you realize how absolutely insane you sound?"

                                               "I know what I saw and I know what I heard. He was speaking another language. I think... I think he was speaking Parseltongue," Victoire added.

                                               "Do you have any idea what you're accusing Tom of doing?" Camille's eyes widened. "You must've heard wrong. There was no possible way you heard Tom speaking Parseltongue. There's just no way."

                                               Parseltongue was an ancient language, one that few could master. Having the gift meant you could talk to snakes and control them to do your will. It was a dark magic, which was why people didn't freely mention having the gift. But Camille certainly couldn't believe that someone as good as Tom could have it.

                                               Her mind, however, wanted to play a cruel joke on Camille by bringing her back to the moment Tom had killed that wounded bird. It was a vicious act, all in the name of mercy. 

                                           "I didn't hear incorrectly. I believe Tom is a Parselmouth. I know how rare of a gift it is but it's not entirely impossible. And it's not so farfetched to believe that Tom could be practicing the dark arts associated with it.  He's very intelligent. Do you think he'd stay within the realms of the magic in our curriculum?" Victoire remarked, folding her arms across her chest.

                                         "Stop it, Victoire. Stop it this instant," Camille scowled. Very few things managed to make Camille angry, a fact Violet used to take advantage of back when they were friends. People could hurt her over and over again but Camille would turn the other cheek and continue to forgive them. But lately, Camille felt as though she was reaching her breaking point. "Tom is a liar and a cheater but making up these wild stories about him is just too far."

                                         "I am not making this up! I'm telling you the truth. You're lucky to have gotten away from him when you did because if you haven't, I really think Tom would've hurt you," Victoire warned. One of Victoire's biggest worries was that something terrible and irreversible would happen to Camille because she let the wrong person in.

                                           "He's already hurt me enough, in case you've forgotten. The whole school thinks I'm pathetic now because of it," Camille scoffs, lying back down on the bed once more. She felt like bursting into tears all over again but managed to keep it in for now. Once she started, she wouldn't be able to stop.

                                            "At least people see Violet for the villain she is. Not even Tom's associating with her. I'm pretty sure he vacates the room whenever she's around," Victoire admits.

                                             The fact shouldn't have made Camille feel good. But it did regardless. It felt good to know that Violet was suffering just as much as she was, if not worse.

                                             "In the meantime, I'll try to figure out what that was all about. I just know he's doing something in the abandoned bathroom. Why else would he go to the one place closed off to the rest of the school?" Victoire continued on, already convinced that Tom was guilty of some dark and terrible act in her mind.

                                             "Do whatever you want. I doubt you'll find anything," Camille shakes her head.

                                              "Or maybe I'll find out everything that I need to. I'll have to ask Lily to come with me," Victoire stated.

                                              "Lily? The two of you are inseparable these days. You talk to her more than you talk to me, your own sister. Now why is that?" Camille accused.

                                               Victoire scoffs. "Can you blame me? She actually listens to me. You just keep acting like I'm crazy. I know I'm not crazy. I know that there's something wrong with Tom."

                                              "Have you ever considered the possibility that Lily just goes along with all of your crazy theories because she doesn't want to hurt your feelings? She loves you, Vic. Anyone can see that. But only I can see that you love her back," Camille remarked. No longer was she going to dance around the subject. She'd try one of Victoire's tactics and go straight to the point.

                                              "Milly...," Victoire trailed off.

                                             "Don't deny it, Vic. You'd just insult me if you do. I know the two of you are more than friends. I see it in the way you two look at each other. You brighten up whenever she enters the room. She's your other half, isn't she? Your l'amour vrai?" Camille questioned.

                                               Maybe she wasn't nearly as intelligent as Tom or Victoire but Camille wasn't completely stupid. She knew that there was something going on between Victoire and Lily for a long while now. The bond the two shared was far deeper than a platonic one. At certain times, the two girls acted like lovers. Unlike most of her peers, Camille wasn't disgusted by their love. She certainly didn't think that it was wrong or immoral. Love was love, regardless of who the two people were or where they came from. She was happy for them. Camille knew no boy could ever make her sister happy.

                                          But Lily Yaxley certainly could.

                                          Victoire nods. "Yes, she is. I love her more than anything. You aren't going to tell our parents, are you?"

                                         "If I didn't tell them then, what makes you think I'd tell them now?" Camille raised a brow.

                                         Victoire realized that Camille made an excellent point actually. Despite their differences, the both of them could always rely on each other to keep their secrets. They were sisters at the end of the day, and nothing could ever change that. They'd take care of each other and protect each other's secrets until the day they died.

                                       "I'm happy that you've found someone to love. You seem to be doing a lot better than me in the love department for a change. But I'm afraid for you, Vic. You do know that the both of you can't be together. At least... not in front of other people," Camille stated.

                                       "I know," Victoire's smile is gone in an instant.

                                      "And you do know our father will have his way. He'll see you married to a suitable man by the time our final year at Hogwarts is finished. Same with Lily," Camille continued. It was a harsh truth but it was one Victoire needed to confront sooner rather than later. Or else Camille could see nothing but heartbreak for her and Lily.

                                        "I know all of this," Victoire snapped. She's not angry at Camille, but she's furious at the situation and the circumstances she was trapped in all because she was a girl born into a rich, pureblood family. If things were different and she were a normal boy, she'd have more of a chance. "What is the point of telling me all of this?" 

                                         "Cherish the time you have with her. Don't forget the love you two have for each other," Camille advised.

                                        "I don't think I can ever forget something like that," Victoire admits with a shake of her head.

                                        Victoire then begins heading towards the door so she could leave. She needed to talk to Lily and try to figure out some sort of plan to catch Tom in the act of... whatever it was he was doing late at night in the abandoned girls' bathroom. But when a thought suddenly crosses her mind, it causes her to pause and turn around to look at her twin sister once again.

                                      "Milly?" Victoire called her sister's name, making Camille glance over at her.

                                      "What is it?" Camille responded.

                                      "If things were different and society wasn't so terrible, would you be the bridesmaid at my wedding?" Victoire questioned.

                                       Camille chuckles. "Of course I would be. I'd be your biggest supporter."

                                      "I'd look pretty dashing in a suit, wouldn't I?" Victoire teased.

                                      "Oh, I'm sure you'd be able to pull it off," Camille replied. "And Lily would look lovely in a gown. You two would be quite the couple."

                                       Victoire chuckles before she finally leaves the room, allowing Camille to be alone with her thoughts. She was still pretty emotional over her sudden break up with Tom but more than anything, she worried for Victoire. Camille sighs as she sits up in her bed, feeling sorry for her sister. She wished that she could make things easier for Victoire. But most of all, she wished that Victoire could stop this mission against Tom. Now that they weren't together, Camille didn't want to think about him anymore and she wanted Victoire to stop thinking about him as well. But maybe Victoire had to carry this out so she could realize the truth that Tom wasn't some evil mastermind and she could finally drop it.

                                      But the real truth wouldn't make Victoire's suspicions go away. No, it'd only make things much much worse.

( 👱‍♀️💘🍒 )

word count: 2137
notes: next chapter will be up shortly (hopefully) but as always let me know what you thought about this one!