Sorrow Finished

Margo entered the girls lavatory, her thoughts happily set upon the potions class she had just attended. It was beginning to become her favourite subject, potions. She loved the intricate recipes and ingredients that had to be done perfectly in order to create a potion. The colours were what fascinated her most, though. Colours were her comfort, the way she looked upon the world, and in potions they were much more interesting than in most other classes.

As she entered the bathroom, Margo heard broken sobs coming from one of the stalls. It wasn’t the kind of crying one might make by stubbing their toe, or an argument with a friend- this was the kind of crying where someone’s world had just fallen apart. As judgemental as Margo may have been, she would never wish those kind of sobs upon anybody, even her greatest enemy.

So, with conviction in her step and a dirty glance towards the other, staring girls in the bathroom, Margo strode forwards and knocked on the door of the stall that was the source of the crying.

“Are you all right?” She asked, making her voice as soft as possible. Reaching into the pocket of her robes, she pulled out a soft blue piece of fabric that she’d been planning to make a sunglasses case out of. Reaching up onto her tiptoes, Margo held the piece of fabric over the stall’s door.

“Here,” She said quietly. “This will be much kinder to your face than toilet paper.”

Thora rushed towards the bathroom door, giving it a push with her palm to make it swing over. She strode towards a stall door, trying to make best use of her time so she could get back to her painstakingly large load of homework, as it was a Sunday. 
She had just locked her stall door when she heard huge chest-heaving sobs from the stall beside hers. As Thora hesitantly reopened her stall to investigate, she heard another girl say, "Are you alright?"
Thora peered into the next stall, face etched with concern. Inside, a girl, likely a fellow first year, was standing clutching a crumpled letter in one hand and a blue cloth in the other. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy, with tear stains on her face. A brightly striped red-and-gold tie marked her as a Gryffindor. Thora was pretty sure, from roll call, that the girl's name was Katrina Walker. Meanwhile, another girl, who had evidently reached the distraught before Thora, shared Thora's Slytherin colors. Thora prided herself on her amazing memory--she knew the Slytherin girl's name was Margo White. 
Thora hovered awkwardly at the stall's door. As her early childhood had not provided her opportunities to interact with other children, she didn't know what she should do. With a burst of courage, she shot a cold glance at the few girls at the sinks who were whispering and giggling and stepped into the stall with the other two girls. 
"Are you OK?" Thora echoed the other girl's words, real concern in her tone. The Gryffindor looked like a wreck. Tears were still streaking down her face and her robe was rumpled. Even though Thora felt uncomfortable talking to these two strangers, she genuinely hoped the Gryffindor girl would be all right. 

Margo’s frown deepened as she read the contents of the letter that the crying girl had given her. Internally, she sighed, but she knew that pity was probably not what the girl in the bathroom was looking for. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to receive news like the information of the letter. There was no cure for the kind of sadness that the girl was feeling- there were merely distractions. So, Margo decided, that’s what she would do. She wouldn’t offer her condolences and she wouldn’t bring up the subject of the girl’s family- she would just provide support in a way that would take the girl’s mind off of things until she was strong enough to face it.

After she had reached that conclusion, Margo heard another voice in the bathroom that wasn't gossiping girls. She saw a girl’s head peek over the wall of the bathroom stall that Margo was standing outside of, and recognised the red hair and pretty face of Thora Larkston, a fellow Slytherin first year. Taking a leaf out of her classmate’s book, Margo headed into the adjacent cubicle and stood on the toilet seat before peering into the bathroom stall. Inside, she saw another redhead whose crumpled robes were adorned with the Gryffindor crest. Tear tracks traced down the girl’s cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy.

Margo once again plunged her hands into the pockets of her robes and withdrew a bar of blackberry flavoured chocolate. It was her favourite chocolate of all time, and she would never willingly part with it, but she considered this moment nessecary of the perfection that chocolate is.

”Why don’t you come out of there?” Margo said sharply, but not unkindly. “Tell us what your name is, and we can enjoy some chocolate.”

Had it been another food, she would have offered some to Thora, but this was perfection in a wrapper, and Margo didn’t know when she would next be able to stock up on her supply.

“Can you reach the lock?”She mouthed to Thora, hoping to speed up the process of extracting the girl. In Margo’s opinion, bathrooms were not a good place to spend one’s time.

Thora stood, her petite size easily allowing her to balance on the ancient, but surprisingly sturdy toilet paper dispenser. She felt uncomfortable peering over the stall, as she didn't want to invade Katrina's privacy, but she really wanted to help the girl out--she looked completely broken. 
As Thora opened her mouth to speak, Margo entered her stall. Bemused, Thora watched as Margo climbed up onto the toilet seat beside her. 

"Why don’t you come out of there?” Margo said sharply, but not unkindly. “Tell us what your name is, and we can enjoy some chocolate.”

Of course, Thora already knew the girl's name was Katrina, but she wasn't about to reveal that. OK, first things first, thought Thora, we need to get her out of the stall. As if Margo had heard her thoughts, Margo mouthed, " Can you reach the lock?"
"I'll try," Thora mouthed back, although, eyeing the lock's distance from her vantage point, was doubtful whether she could. Thora knew she was in a better position to help the Gryffindor out of the stall, as she was closer, but her small frame didn't provide much help. 
Tying her wavy auburn hair back into a messy bun, Thora eased her body onto the top of the stall's wall and groped for the lock. She groaned. Just an inch off...
Snickers and not-so-quiet whispers from outside told Thora she was a  ridiculous sight. Rolling her eyes, she tried to shut them out. She strained, shimmying forward just a few centimeters forward... And Thora finally felt the cool metal of the lock on her fingertips.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Thora undid the lock and slid the door open. Nimbly slipping down onto the bathroom floor, she popped into the open door of the stall.
"C'mon, we can go outside. It's much quieter outside. Besides, I think we're gathering quite a crowd," Thora spoke as kindly as she could. After a quick smile, she spun on her heel and walked out if the bathroom. All she could hope was that Margo and Katrina--especially Katrina--would follow her out.

Margo breathed a sigh of relief when Thora managed to unlock the door. Usually, she wasn’t one to show her emotions so clearly, but she doubted that this would be considered a big display in comparison to the crying girl. Margo still didn’t know her name... Yes you do, you idiot. She growled internally, Remember the letter. Oh of course, what an absolute star she’d been. The girl, Katrina, had trusted her with private information and she hadn’t even registered her name.

Trying to move on from this disturbing discovery, Margo payed a little more attention to what was going on in the bathroom. Some people seemed to be having whispered conversations, but most were staring at the three girls. Dear Merlin, will you please just leave! Margo said, or at least tried to say with just her glare. 

"C'mon, we can go outside. It's much quieter outside. Besides, I think we're gathering quite a crowd,” Thora said, solving the issue of privacy. Katrina also spoke the words that Margo had bone thinking- and they actually seemed enough to quite the gossiping... at least until Katrina stormed out.

Margo followe. She gently took the chocolate bar from Katrina and popped a piece in her mouth before handing it back. She’d never really done this level of comforting before- it was more taxing than she’d realised. Smiling internally at the amazing taste, Margo proceeded to follow Thora out of the lavatory. She knew that the Gryffindor girl would follow, so what would be the point in waiting for her? Their next location was unknown, but Margo knew that she and Thora would do their best in comforting the now broken girl.

But that’s why there’s magic. Margo told herself. To fix things that are broken.