Everything's Gone (open)

Elisabetta wandered around Hogsmeade, feeling as though she were in a daze as she read the letters that were in her hand. The top letter was the one that had grabbed her attention, however, as it was from Dominic. He had moved away from Hogwarts and was now attending Durmstrang. His reason? He was getting much too distracted by Betta and was therefore falling behind academically. Betta knew better, though--his parents, who were strong supporters of You Know Who, were grooming their son to be a supporter of the Dark Lord as well, which meant learning the Dark Arts instead of how to defend themselves against them.

The second letter was from Dmitri. His parents had arranged a marriage for him which would take place after he graduated from Durmstrang. This had hurt Betta the most, as she could have sworn that there was a future with him from what her own parents had been saying.

Tears rolled down her face as she threw the letters on the snow-covered ground. Everything she'd worked for...everything she'd hoped for was now gone. She didn't understand it. How could things have happened this way? Was it something she'd done or not done? She had no idea. All she knew was that she wanted some semblance of normalcy to return. She didn't know how much longer she could take of her world being turned upside down.

Morgan was walking through Hogsmeade getting ready to head back to Hogwarts, when she spotted a familiar face. It was Elisabetta, the Slytherin who was seeing that sleaze Dmitri. But, she looked very sad. Seeing her throw was looked like letters onto the ground, she jogged up to her and stooped to pick them up. "Hey, Elisabetta. Everything alright?" she asked. She hadn't seen the Slytherin or that Dmitri in a long while, but she had thought of her often. Standing up, she held the letters out to her with a smile.

"Oh...Morgan...hi." Elisabetta replied, quickly brushing a couple of tears away. "Yeah, I was just reading these letters. One of them is from Dominic and the other one is from Dmitri. I--" She swallowed a huge lump in her throat. "Dominic was transferred over to Durmstrang; his parents claim that I was too much of a distraction, but that's a load of dung. They're training him in the Dark Arts, I know it." She sighed heavily. "As for Dmitri, his parents arranged a marriage for him, so he's now engaged to someone named Karenina."

Elisabetta ran a hand through her hair. "So I guess I'm stuck by myself now. I don't know; maybe being single for a while will be good. I was getting annoyed with Dmitri to be perfectly honest. He was such an idiot."

As Elisabetta told Morgan of the letters and the changes that she was having to face, her eyes and features softened. She pulled the Slytherin into a gentle hug and said, "Single isn't always a bad thing." Letting her go and brushing a few stay tears away, she smiled softly. "You will find someone, Elisabetta. I know you will.... Someone better then Dmitri," she said lightly with a wink. "Truthfully, I don't think many will miss him after how he treated you..." Morgan added. She for one was happy that he wasn't with Elisabetta anymore. He was just....a pain.... She deserved better.

"Yeah." Elisabetta replied. "I guess what bothers me overall is Dominic. His parents were always so nice; to move him away from here because of me? Are you kidding? I--" She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "There's no point in crying over spilled milk, I suppose. And you're right. There's someone out there for me, I just haven't met him yet. Whoever it is will be a darn sight better than either one of them were if I have anything to do about it."

She frowned. "Do you think we'll have to fight against them both when...I mean, if...circumstances go downhill?"

Morgan smiled when she heard the girl begin to take a brighter outlook on the situation. "Parents do things that we won't understand, or agree with. But there is always a reason, no matter how stupid it might be. I am sorry, though, that you have to go through this now, of all times," she said. At Elisabetta's next question, Morgan sighed, her brow furrowing slightly as she thought. The time for changes was coming, she could feel it. Shrugging her shoulders, Morgan answered, "It's hard to say. It depends on whose side you stand versus whose side they stand. If they stand against us, then we might not have a choice..." Morgan's eyes were grave when she looked up and managed a small smile. She was facing this same question herself, but, sadly, she already knew the answer to hers...