Chapter Eleven: The Consequences of the Present

The common room was eerily silent, the only sound coming from the crackling fire beside the seventh year Slytherins scattered across the room.

It had been an hour since the eight Slytherins found purchase on the leather couches and wooden stools, but none of them dared to mutter a single word, instead choosing to flip their gazes between the agitated brunette seated on the floor near the fire and the wounded blonde on the couch behind her.

Cordelia could practically feel the way her friends and brother stared at the back of her head, but she didn't dare mutter a single word.

It was only when Aurora finally awoke from her impromptu slumber that the room stirred to life with four figures racing across the room to check on the blonde while the other four hesitantly exchanged glances amongst themselves.

Cordelia understood why Orion and Druella were hesitant to approach Aurora, after all the situation was too unprecedented for them to know whether or not it was a good idea, but she couldn't help but stare in confusion at Theodore Nott, who hadn't moved an inch from his perch near the bookshelf.

Out of everyone in their friend group, Theodore was the one who should have rushed to her first to check up on her wounds. Instead, he chose to flicker his gaze between Cordelia and Aurora as his fists hesitantly clenched and unclenched for an umpteenth time.

Something that Phyllis didn't take too kindly to.

"So that's it then? Our group is split for good because Lia can't get off of her high horse?"

Phyllis was right, everyone knew it, but that didn't stop Cordelia from recoiling in shock as her features slowly morphed from remorse to anger.

"My high horse? What about the way he and his betrothed have been treating me ever since I won the Tournament?"

If the room was quiet before, then their current predicament could only be seen as silence in its purest form. No one dared speak much less breathe, and time seemed to find a standstill as Ignatius and Cordelia's blue eyes clashed in a battle of glares.

It was only when Aurora's baby blue gaze joined their stare-off that Cordelia turned away with a scoff, something that wasn't taken too kindly by the four Slytherins before her.

"This isn't you, Lia."

Theodore Nott's voice had never sounded as cold as it did then.

Throughout the time they knew each other Theodore had always spoken to Cordelia with a certain warmth in his voice, something that automatically made her feel comforted. But today his voice held the coldness that the Slytherins were accustomed to using when addressing the rest of Hogwarts. A coldness that had her shrinking back towards the fire in search of the warmth and affection she was accustomed to.

"He's right, Lia-"

the witch in question couldn't help but look at her brother in shock as he spoke from his spot on the other side of the leather couches. Out of everyone in the room, Cordelia had thought Orion would have at least sided with her through it all.

Evidently, she had been wrong.

"You've been off since the start of the year, trying to replace us with others and shutting off if we so much as brought it up."

"You've changed, and not in a good way."

It was Druella's final input that made Cordelia snap as she looked at the room as a whole, regarding her childhood friends for traitors.

"You think this is easy? Do you think I wanted to be the pureblood princess who has to be the leader? The one who pulled you all together and has to be the face of Slytherin?"

Her voice rose an octave as Cordelia abandoned her spot on the carpet, choosing to instead stand before the room defensively with a voice that reminded them of their parents and an expression that had Aurora and Ignatius flinching away from her.

"You think I wanted to be ostracized for being too good but criticized for not being good enough?"

Her head shook as Cordelia let out a scoff, slowly flickering her gaze between everyone in the room before it finally landed on Aurora; the one who had started it all.

"I never asked for any of this. But you know what I did ask for? Your support!"

It was then that she finally let go of her false bravado, letting her voice crack and eyes water as Cordelia showed her friends how much their separation truly affected her.

"For friends who didn't push me away because I was suddenly an outsider just because I won the Tournament."

"For Merlin's sake Lia we didn't push you away, you pulled yourself away!"

That was the first time the eight Slytherins had heard Aurora Fawley raise her voice, a feat that expressed just how furious she was.

"Ignatius and I might have been awkward around you but we weren't the ones who asked you to leave on the train, you did that yourself. Your paranoia and sudden ego were what drove you away because you were suddenly too good for the rest of us."

Ignatius carried on where his betrothed left off, reaching for Aurora's palm as he spoke next.

"Do you even know what the rest of us have been going through these past few months? Do you know anything about our problems or why being around the perfect Cordelia Lucretia Black was too much for us?"

Cordelia's silence was enough of an answer for him to continue.

"Of course you don't. Because you don't care, do you, Lia? It's always about perfect little Cordelia and her problems, isn't it?"

"I-"

Cordelia took a moment to respond as she attempted to think of anything to say. However, her futile attempt was cut off by Rodolphus; the only one who had remained silent the entire night.

"Rora's Niffler was hunted last summer, did you know that Lia? Druella got a contract with Cygnus, a contract that could have been broken if you had spoken with her mother during the ball you ran away from over the summer. And Phyllis, Phyllis is supposed to marry right after we graduate."

Rodolphus scoffed at her surprised expression, continuing where he left off with disappointment evident in his voice.

"Arcturus beat Orion again, something you promised wouldn't happen after last year. Theodore and I have been subjected to Tom Riddle's wrath because of his stupid plans for the future, and Ignatius has to deal with his sister eloping and potentially cutting off their legacy."

"But you didn't know any of that, did you, Lia?"

Cordelia didn't know how to feel. Saying she was shocked would be the biggest understatement of the year, but admitting to her guilt wouldn't do any of them any good. Thus she couldn't help but finally break and understand the situation for what it truly was; her fault.

Everything was her fault, all because Cordelia was too focused on the future and past to see what was happening around her in the present.

And in doing so, she had lost everyone who was close to her.

"Grindlewald wanted to recruit me last year. Riddle wasn't exactly easy to deal with either and the Tournament ended up being more of a challenge than I thought. Mother wants me to be her perfect little pureblood trophy wife, and father won't even look at me properly even after his embrace at the platform."

Cordelia's gaze sunk to the floor as she spoke, her body following soon after.

"I'm just so tired. Tired of always having to be the strong one who can solve any problem. Tired of being this stupid paragon of perfection."

Her words were merely excuses, a realization that made Cordelia scoff at herself as she continued.

"I thought I could just pretend everything was simple, but it's not. It's not, and I don't know what to do with myself anymore."

It was only then that she looked away from the green carpet below her, finally glancing at the seven Slytherins who had taken to sitting on the floor and couches before her.

"Why is time moving so fast?"

The room returned to silence again, but this time it was because everyone was too preoccupied thinking to bother saying anything. When the silence finally broke, it was Phyllis's voice that echoed around the common room, with her tone carrying the sorrow and confusion everyone in the room felt.

"We can't just go back to being normal, Lia, none of us can. If we do, things will just change for the worse. We need time to think about everything that happened today, and so do you."

It was only then that Cordelia finally registered the loneliness and regret she had been feeling throughout the night; emotions that had her solemnly nodding in agreement even as she yearned for a normal night with her friends without having to worry about consequences and mistakes.

Unfortunately, things were never that simple, and after pushing her friends away for so long Cordelia was no longer entitled to their unwavering friendship.

"I need to head back to the head's dorms."

It was a poor excuse, but no one in the room tried to stop her as Cordelia exited the common room and made her way back to the heads dorms.

The halls were cold but unlike the Slytherin common room, they provided Cordelia with a sense of clarity and comfort. The cold provided her with the clarity she needed to figure things out and contemplate everything that had occurred over the past hours.

When Cordelia finally reached the familiar tapestry that concealed the heads dorms she couldn't help but hesitate, wondering whether Tom Riddle would be waiting on the other side with his prying eyes and pretty lies that could coerce her into speaking; just like he had over the past month.

Thankfully, fate finally seemed to pity Cordelia and allowed her a moment of peace to contemplate her actions over the past months and how they had affected her and the people she cared for.

As Cordelia Black trudged up the stairs to her dorm room and collapsed on the unmade bed already occupied by her slumbering cat, she couldn't help but let out a tired sigh and hope, for the first time since the Triwizard Tournament, that the morning would bring her a miracle of joy.