Cho was immediately whisked away to Marietta's room as soon as she appeared at the fireplace.

"Slow down, will you? I nearly scraped my knee on the stairs," Cho said, rubbing her knee in discomfort.

"Hurry up, you're so slow! I've got something to show you," Marietta exclaimed, practically dragging Cho along with her.

"What's got you so excited?" Cho asked, deftly slipping out of Marietta's grasp as they reached the upstairs landing.

"This!" Marietta exclaimed, producing an old diary from beneath her robes, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Marietta!" Cho exclaimed, identifying the diary at a glance. "That's Ben's," she said, a little shocked.

"I know right, who would have thought? A secret diary. How lame," Marietta remarked with a smirk.

"Marie, you can't just nick someone's things like that," Cho admonished her gently.

"Oh, relax, I made a copy," Marietta replied, waving her arm dismissively.

"And don't act like you're not curious about what's in here," she said, waving the diary in front of Cho's face.

"I-I'm not, and you shouldn't be either. There could be personal stuff in there," Cho responded hesitantly.

"Yeah, right, and that's all the more reason to read it," Marietta retorted with a scoff, rolling her eyes in annoyance at Cho's objections. She was tired of Cho siding with him despite being her friend.

"Wait, don't," Cho interjected, attempting to halt Marietta. She wouldn't appreciate it if someone went through her diary, either.

But Marietta dodged Cho's attempt to stop her and opened the diary. Her face contorted into a frown when she saw the first page, and the frown deepened as she flipped through the pages.

"It's empty," she declared with frustration evident in her voice, tossing the diary to the ground in disappointment.

Cho carefully picked up the diary, noting the faded year on the shabby black cover, indicating it was fifty years old. Except for the first page, where it read, "T. M. Riddle," the remaining pages were blank.

"There must have been privacy charms on the original diary," Cho deduced after inspecting the empty pages.

Marietta's interest was piqued, and she tapped the diary three times before saying, "Aparecium!"—a simple charm to reveal messages written in invisible ink. However, nothing happened, leaving Marietta disappointed.

"Marietta, you said this was just a copy!" Cho exclaimed, realising that invisible messages don't transfer over when making a copy.

"I never said this was the copy. I said I made a copy," Marietta replied, shocking Cho with her admission.

"I transfigured my hat into a perfect imitation," Marietta added proudly.

"Marie, he'll know it was you once the transfiguration ends," Cho looked alarmed at the implication.

"Yeah, what else was I supposed to do? I still can't perform the duplication spell. Plus, I want him to know it was me, to understand the consequences of messing with me," Marietta replied with a smirk. "I just wish I was there to see the look on his face."

Marietta's disdain for Ben was no secret, and in some ways, Cho could empathise. Ben was undeniably peculiar—eccentric, unconventional, and unapologetically unique. While he could be rather abrasive at times, Cho found herself strangely drawn to his quirky sense of humour.

Marietta, however, was not amused by his antics. Her constant clashes with him grated on Cho's nerves. She couldn't shake the sense that Marietta's hostility towards Ben was unfounded and unreasonable.

"What were you supposed to do? How about nothing? What's wrong with you, Marietta? You can't just take people's things. It's not funny," Cho chided, her voice echoing softly in the quiet corridor.

Marietta's eyes flashed with defiance as she retorted, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? Why are you always taking his side over your friend?"

"I-I'm on your side, Marietta. And we have to return this," Cho insisted, her voice pleading.

"Return it? Why would I do that?" Marietta shot back, her voice rising with frustration.

"Because it could be important. It's fifty years old, maybe it belonged to a family member," Cho reasoned, trying to appeal to Marietta's conscience.

"Why don't you return it to him yourself, since you clearly care so much about him?" Marietta snapped, her words laced with bitterness.

Cho's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. He's humiliated me left and right, taken shots at me, and openly ridiculed me. And yet, all you care about is fluttering around him like a butterfly on a broomstick, instead of being on my side when I need you most." Marietta spat out, her anger boiling over.

"I get that you're upset, but you attacked him first. He was just defending himself," Cho countered, her voice firm with disbelief. "And if we're being honest, you've always been the one to find fault with Ben. I just don't understand why," she continued, her frustration evident. "And I'm not 'dancing around him on a broomstick.' I'm simply trying to be fair and impartial."

Marietta's expression froze momentarily, a single tear trickling down her cheek."

"I didn't need fairness, Cho. I needed a friend," she choked out, before striding into her room and slamming the door shut.

"Marie—"

"Leave me alone, Cho. I don't want to talk to you anymore," she declared firmly through the closed door.

--

As the end of summer vacation approached, Ben found himself once again boarding the Hogwarts Express with his friends. Terry Boot, who had spent the entire vacation in North America with his father, had plenty of stories to share.

A few hours into the journey, Ben decided to stretch his legs and take a leisurely stroll down the train's corridors

Halfway down the train, he encountered Hermione and Ginny, both appearing visibly distressed and tense.

"Did Harry and Ron not manage to board the train?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow as he scanned the compartment, realising their absence.

"No, they missed it. Honestly, what were they thinking?" Hermione replied, her frustration evident in her tone.

"Do you think they'll be alright, Ben?" Ginny asked, her concern palpable. Ben had become a frequent visitor to the Burrow over the summer, and Ginny had grown accustomed to his presence, feeling comfortable enough to express her concerns without feeling shy.

"Don't worry, Ginny. They'll be alright," Ben reassured her with a gentle smile, though Ginny still seemed uneasy.
"Trust me, I'm not a seer for nothing, you know," he said, a confident grin spreading across his face as he thumped his chest reassuringly.

"Lying isn't very nice, you know," came a gentle, otherworldly voice from behind the pages of a quibbler magazine.

"Er... what?"

-END OF CHAPTER-

A/N: It took me too long to write this chapter. This was supposed to go in a completely different direction, but after a few rewrites, I chose this path.

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