Knee Socks

Chapter 4

"He said that?!" Hayley shouts, exasperated.

It's been three days since my conversation with the headmaster in his office. Since then I have been freaking out. The man's words kept going through my mind they were driving me insane. Today was the day I finally decided to get some of these things off my chest by telling my friends them.

Sitting in the twin's dorm room, I finally cracked and told them everything that had happened between headmaster Styles' and I since I had arrived at the boarding school.

They were shocked by the news to say the least. Apparently them and everybody else thought the headmaster was a wonderful man who wouldn't be capable of the things he has done to me in the past almost month since I arrived here.

I nod. "Yeah, I hate the man so damn much," I say. I was so angry by what had happened in the headmaster's office three days ago. I mean how dare he says those things to me? I have rights you know might only be fourteen, but I can goddamn date whoever I want.

"He can't do that can he?" Fred asks, him and his twin were taking this whole thing with the headmaster serious. For probably the first time in their lives they were actually looking quite angry at something.

I sigh giving them a sad look. "He can, he's the headmaster after all. I don't want to go back home, there's not-" I stop mid-sentence widening my eyes at what I almost said.

"There's not what?" George asks me, raising his eyebrows at me.

I look nervously down at my feet. I haven't told them about my life before coming to the boarding school for the sake of not wanting them to pity me because of it. They were my best friend now, after all, I guess I should probably tell them.

"There's not anyone back at home," I tell them, nervously.

The three of them gasp. "Your parents aren't...dead?" Hayley asks me hesitantly.

I shake my head. "No, they're just never home," I say, Hayley and the twins give me apologetic looks.

They wouldn't understand how it is to not have their parents around for them. Molly Weasley, the twins mother, even though busy with two red headed kids still at home figured out ways to be there for her sons.

Hayley's parents make her call them every night before she goes go bed to check up on her. She thinks that it's annoying, but I envy what she has with them. I wish that u could have the same thing with my parents.

I sigh looking at the time. It was 6:45 and since the boy's dorm was off limits after 8:00 we only had a little over an hour before Hayley and I would be kicked out of the boy's dorm room.

"I'm going to head back to our dorm room, Hales, if you want to stay here a little longer you can," I tell my roommate, getting up out of my position of lounging on Fred's bed.

I actually wanted Hayley to stay here with the twins so that I can take the walk back to our dorm to think some things over. I give Hayley a look that says, "just stay here."

She must have understood my look as she answers with, "alright I guess I'll just stay here with the twins. Be careful on your walk back to the dorm. If you see the headmaster just hide in the bushes or something."

I laugh at Hayley's idea of hiding in the bushes. "Okay, George, Fred, I'll see you guys tomorrow," I give the twins a small smile and wave before I head out of their dorm room.

I walk down the halls of the boy's dorm hearing the chatter of the people in their rooms through the thin walls. Walking down the hall I see Percy Weasley our school President, and also the twins older brother, walking the hall looking paranoid almost.

"What's the matter, Percy?" I ask him, concerned.

The twins might not like their goody-goody older brother, but I have actually gotten to know Percy a little more since the twins told me about him. He's not that bad of a boy. Too worried about his grades and future and all, but still he wasn't as bad as the twins make him out to be.

Percy looks almost terrified about something and it kind of scared the shit out of me. Percy was someone who was always calm and on top of everything, it just wasn't him to be scared about something.

"I think something has happened outside. I heard a scream," he says, looking at me nervously.

I give him a shocked look. If Percy says he heard a scream I believe him because Percy Weasley doesn't do jokes.

"I'll go and see what's happened," I tell him confidently.

If something's bad has happened I will take it head on. I am a strong person I can take whatever it is. I start to head for the door of the dorm, but Percy stops me as I reach for the handle.

"No I will!" Percy shouts after me.

I turn to look at Percy with a raised eyebrow. "I am going no matter what, but if Mr. Percy Weasley would like to come with be my guest."

Percy agrees with this, probably scared to go alone, but wanting to go himself since he is the school president after all. Percy and I brace ourselves as we walk out of the dorm together and around the corner to where Percy had heard the scream.

The sight before them was horrifying there lying on the ground was a girl around the same age as the twins, Hayley and myself. Her throat had been slit open and blood was pooling all around her body from the wound. Her blue eyes were open wide, but they were filled with no emotion, lifeless. Her mouth was open in a scream and that's when I realized she had died screaming for someone to help her.

I haven't seen the girl before, but that wasn't really a surprise as there were many and many students at this boarding school. Even if I didn't know who she was it was still horrifying to see a girl about the same age as myself, dead, gone from this world forever.

I had tears streaming down my face before I knew it and I was sobbing hysterically into the cold September ground. I knew that Percy was doing to same by the strangled cries from behind me.

It wasn't long before people had noticed the two of us crying our eyes out and start to surround us, but it felt like hours. It was the worst moment in my life. How would you react to seeing a dead girl on the ground?

Soon enough, Percy and I were being dragged to the headmaster's office together to tell him the story of what had happened. The two of us had calmed down a little bit now.

"So what has happened?" The headmaster asks with an eyebrow raised.

Percy sighs. He tells Mr. Styles the whole story of what had happened. He had heard a terrifying scream from outside and he didn't know what to do about. So when I came along not too long after and asked what was wrong he decided to tell me since he thought I was a trustworthy person. After he told me what he heard we went out to see what had happened and there she was lying on the grass, lifeless.

I sat back in my chair as Percy went through the whole story. I still hadn't calmed down enough to talk, but Percy being the calm boy he was decided to do all the talking for me anyways.

Headmaster Styles' turns to me after Percy has gone through his whole story and he's satisfied with it. "Are you alright, Arabella?" He asks me with concern.

Why the tall and handsome jerk cared if I was alright was a mystery to me, but I shake my head as a "no" anyways. I want going to lie I was not alright. Seeing that scared the living shit out of me.

"Well, seeing that must of being very frightening I will write to your teachers and tell them to give you both the next couple days off to recover," Mr. Styles tells us, his green eyes boring into mine.

He breaks our eye contact and turns to Percy. "You may leave, Mr. Weasley, I would like to talk to Arabella alone," He tells the boy.

Percy doesn't ask any questions, he just gives the headmaster a small nod and is on his way back to his dorm room.

I look up at the man in front of me with tears still in my eyes. "If you want to sexually harassment can it wait till later?" I ask him with a small sigh. "I'm really not up to it at the moment.

What the man does next was a total surprise to me though. He got up and hugged me. It was a soft and comforting hug, his strong arms, almost soothing me.

The soft embrace was all it took for me to burst back in to tears. I couldn't take it the image of the girl in my brain. I cried and cried and cried, I cried until my voice was hoarse and Mr. Styles' shirt was soaking wet.

The whole time the man didn't move out of the embrace just held me close and rubbed soothing circles into my back. In that moment I didn't even care that I was letting the man that has been tormenting me for weeks hold me and comfort me.

When I had finally calmed down I was exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open, they were drooping closed and before I knew it I had fallen asleep in my worst enemies arms.

***

I woke up the next morning to feel strong arms around my waist. I open my eyes to see a mess of curls in my face. I was confused. Where the hell was I? Then everything that happened the night before comes back to me.

Percy and I had found the dead body of a girl and for some reason headmaster Styles' had comforted me. I had mixed feelings about the man now. Was he actually a nice man? Was I wrong to think he was a total ass just because he kept hitting on me? Should I give the man a chance?

That's when I realize I really have to pee. Like my bladder was going to explode soon if I didn't go to the bathroom soon. I tried to wiggle out of the man's grip, but since he was twice my size I failed at my attempt at getting free.

"Mr. Styles!" I shout in the man's ear. The man groans and nuzzles his head into my neck sleepily.

"Go back to sleep," he says sleepily, his morning voice extra hoarse.

"I have to pee," I tell him, annoyed.

He sighs loosening his arms on me and I take that chance to get out of his death grip and run for the toilet. As soon as I had emptied my bladder, I checked my bladder for the time. It was 10:30. I start to freak I had missed my first couple classes then I remembered that headmaster Styles' had exempt me from classes for the next couple days.

I walk back into the bedroom to see Mr. Styles was a wake, now staring at me, sleepily. He holds his arms out almost like a little kid wanting to be picked up and I can't help but laugh at the resemblance. The man was in his thirties and he still could look like a toddler.

I should have turned down his offer of getting back in bed, but he looked so cute in that moment, like a big teddy bear almost, that I couldn't help it, I had to get back in bed and cuddle with the man.

I crawl back into the comfy bed and cuddle into the man's strong arms. I didn't know why I was letting this man hold me after how much he has tormented me, but he had comforted me he couldn't be all bad could he?

"Thank you for comforting me last night, Mr. Styles," I say.

I can almost feel his smile on the back of my neck. "You're welcome sweetheart, but can you please stop calling me Mr. Styles?" He asks.

I turn my head a little to look at him. "I am not calling you daddy if that's what you want," I tell him with a glare.

The man gives out a low chuckle. "No, call me by my first name, Harry," he says.

I think about it for a second. He is still my headmaster after all and it is very wrong for me to call him by his first name, but after all Professor Tomlinson makes all of his students do it. Also it's not like it's right for me to be cuddling with the headmaster in his bed either, but I'm doing that. Plus at least calling the man by his first name isn't as degrading as calling him daddy.

"Okay, fine then, Harry," I tell him with a small smile.

***

"Now you're giving him special treatment?" Hayley asks, amazed.

It's been a day since I had spent the night and most of the day in Harry's room with him. I had decided to tell Hayley about what had happened since I feel and about leaving anything from her anymore.

I sigh. "He was just being so nice and I just wanted to stay with him longer," I say, shrugging my shoulders a little.

Hayley shakes her head at me. "You can't get tangled in with someone that is over twice your age," Hayley tells me, concern written all over her face.

I groan throwing my body back onto my bed in frustration. "I don't know, I just, I can't help it, he was just so caring the other day. I don't know if he's a nice man or not anymore," I tell Hayley with a sigh.

Hayley rolls her eyes. "Come on, Ar, the obvious answer here is that you should just forget about him and go out with Michael. Who's not confusing and really likes you," Hayley says.

I give her a small smile. "Yeah I guess you're right," I say, even though in the back of my mind I was still having an internal argument with myself about tall and lanky headmaster.