Penny had begun to hyperventilate. Her little gaggle of Slytherin girls had absolutely panicked. It was funny - it was almost as if they had cared for her, the way they had flocked around her and called her name. These were the girls who taunted her behind her back, who poked and prodded at her insecurities, who sent her as their errands girl and their canary into the mines of the social trenches of Hogwarts. They had been the same old girls this morning. They strolled outside to take in a bit of the chilly air, cardigan and sweater clad, the girls made there way out onto the grounds and languished atop benches, leaving Penny to sit on the cold ground, her stocking-clad legs folded under her thighs. She plucked uncomfortably at her Slytherin sweater sleeves, ignoring the gossip and laughter of her friends, until a newspaper was thrown to her. And that was when she read the article.
"Penelope, calm down!"
"It wasn't like you didn't know. It was going to happen anyway. What difference does it make now or later?"
She stood to her feet, breathing heavily. The girls all released her and she took off running for the front gates. The girls shrieked after her but Penny kept running, breathing hard and heavy, her eyes wide. She escaped the campus and slipped and sloshed down the muddy trail, mud splattering onto her stockings. The first thing she spotted was the Garden of Solace. She tripped as she swerved towards the garden, scrambling towards. She burst into the clearing and began to slow as she approached the gazebo. As she entered the gazebo she sunk to her knees.
For a moment, all she could hear were her gasps of breaths, her lungs expanding and collapsing. Suddenly, she became aware that her whole body was shaking. And tears were bursting from her eyes. And then she buried her face in her arms, sobbing loudly and without reserve.
Her life was coming to a close.