The voices were too distant to decipher any words. Her muscles were stiff and her body felt too tight in her own skin. It was an effort to open her eyes.
"Miss Zephyr? Oh good, you're awake." Madam Pomfrey's voice sounded muffled.
Callista managed a grunt in response, trying to sit but it proved to be impossible.
"Now, dear. Take it slow." Madam Pomfrey fretted over the young girl as she helped her sit.
Callista opened her mouth, trying to speak. "Why... are my bones feeling stiff?" She croaked out, wincing at how horrible her voice sounded. She could only imagine how she looked.
Madam Pomfrey gave her a worried look. "You were found up in the Astronomy Tower with broken bones and cuts over your body. You gave us all a fright. What happened, dear?"
Callista frowned. She couldn't remember the events. When had it happened? What was she doing up in the Astronomy Tower? "I don't know. I can't remember."
"I had a feeling you wouldn't know." Madam Pomfrey said, a dark look flashing in her face for a second before going back businesslike. "What hurts?"
"It's just soreness. Nothing hurts." Callista shrugged, biting her lip at the pain that accompanied the effort. She felt too exposed, too frail. She didn't like feeling defenseless or admit any pain.
Callista knew Madam Pomfrey could see right through her, but miraculously let it go. "You have a visitor. I'll let them in for a short while. Then you'll rest. You'll be out by the time the feast begins."
"Thank you." Callista said with a small smile.
Madam Pomfrey gave a nod before leaving for the visitor. Surely it must be Emily, demanding answers from her and cursing her for being so stupid, to tell her that she wouldn't let her out of her sight again, that she'd kill whoever did this to her best friend. But when the curtain to her bed opened, she was surprised to see a black-haired blue-eyed boy with a plastic vase full of forget-me-not flowers and a box of sugar quills.
"Hi." He said, a bit shy.
"Hi." Callista was too shocked to say anything else.
"How are you feeling?" He looked so awkward standing there.
"I'm good. Madam Pomfrey said I'll be up in no time." She flashed him a devious smile. "You had a small break from my pathetic questionings."
He sent her a sheepish grin, his eyes twinkling. "I've been honing my poor stalking skills." He smiled. "Good to know you're okay."
She nodded, smiling, feeling too awkward to know what to say. She noticed his shifting feet, he was nervous.
"I know you missed quite a lot of material, so I copied notes for you too." He said, a bit uncertain.
"Oh, thank you. What chivalry!" She playfully winked at him. He winked back with a playful smirk, his eyes dancing in amusement.
Silence, once again. But this time it wasn't so awkward. Madam Pomfrey came a few minutes later, telling the boy to leave because she needed rest.
He said goodbye, turning around. He was halfway to the door before he turned around and ran to Callista.
"I forgot." His face flushed pink in embarrassment. "I got you this." He handed her the vase and box, bolting out the door without waiting for her to acknowledge his gift.
As she looked at the flowers, her thoughts drifted. How did he know which flowers she liked best? How did he know she loved sugar quills? Maybe it was just by chance, but she wasn't very convinced of the latter. She suddenly felt guilty, wondering why she never asked for his name.
ϟ
"Are you sure you're okay?" Draco asked for the millionth time that late afternoon, rubbing his thumbs in gentle strokes on Emily's arm and back.
Emily sighed softly. "I would tell you otherwise, if I felt even a touch of discomfort."
He seemed satisfied at this, letting the subject drop as he kept soothing her. Emily had to admit she liked being smothered by her boyfriend.
Since the entire school found out that Emily and Callista were fatally injured while inside the school, the whispers and rumors had gone far and wide and Draco let slip that Emily was his girlfriend. He couldn't hide his feelings of dread and anxiousness. His troubled face often betraying his careless bad boy demeanor.
"Won't your friend join us?" Draco asked instead, wondering why the Slytherin fool hadn't come to spend time with the 'cool kids'.
"She's still recovering. She just wants some peace and quiet. Let her be." Emily said offhandedly.
Draco was surprised to hear the dismissal in her voice, but hid it well from her. "Alright, then."
Emily looked at him, a smile brightening her face as she leaned to him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Draco complied, snaking his hands up her back, tangling in her auburn hair. Emily put her hands on each side of his head, pulling him in a deeper kiss, biting his bottom lip. He opened his mouth and their tongues laced together, teasing each other.
"Gross." Blaise murmured, burying his face in a book even though he didn't read the printed words.
Gratefully, Crabbe and Goyle decided to go to the other side of the room to play wizards' chess, even though they weren't half competent at the board game.
There was a sound between a gasp and a shriek before Pansy Parkinson stomped to her dormitory, weeping her heart out.
Emily was the first to pull back, needing to refill her lungs. A light blush dusting her freckled cheeks. Draco was breathless, but he hid it with low and slow breaths, a smirk appearing on his lips. He wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from a nonexistent threat.
"I love you," he whispered only to her.
"Do you?" She asked.
Draco tried not to show the pang of hurt he felt as she refused to say those three words back. He only held her tighter.
ϟ
Albus Dumbledore had given both Slytherin girls a full day of rest before summoning them for a private meeting. After dinner, the girls waited a few minutes before making their way to the headmaster's office.
"What was the password again?" Emily asked, scratching the lower back of her head.
Callista stared at the Gargoyle statue that blocked the path to the stairs. "Acid pops," she spoke to the gargoyle and the statue moved aside, letting the girls up the spiraling steps. She was about to knock when Emily opened the door without waiting for the headmaster's approval.
Dumbledore sat in his chair behind his desk, his phoenix pet by his side as he looked down at both of them. "How was the feast?"
"No small talk, sir." Emily said coolly before Callista could stop her.
Callista sighed through her nose with her eyes closed, praying her patience would last longer than normal. She knew Emily hated how unfair the current headmaster could be when it came to the Slytherin House. Callista couldn't disagree, but her feelings were restrained, knowing it didn't help the case.
"Of course, Miss Wirkstone. I suspect you're both very tired. I'll get to the point then." He said with a small smile.
"Is this about the attack?" Callista asked. She couldn't wonder why else he would summon them both.
"So it is. If I recall correctly, Madam Pomfrey has told me none of you remember what happened."
"If that's what she says then it must be true. Or do you doubt your employees?" Snapped Emily.
"Hush, Em." Whispered Callista in warning.
Dumbledore continued as if nothing was amiss. "Nothing at all? I'm concerned about the safety of my students. Can you try to remember?"
He only cares for the safety of his most favorite pupil Harry Potter, thought Callista quite bitterly. "What, now?" She asked.
"Indeed, Miss Zephyr." He nodded.
"Do you expect for us to just think about what may have happened and spontaneously remember the events?" Emily asked with a look of bewilderment.
"Try at least." Dumbledore said pleasantly.
"Don't you think we've tried that already? I'm not fond of being attacked behind my back. I want to catch the culprit as much as you do, headmaster." Emily spat out, glaring at him.
"For that to be possible you need to keep trying." He said nonchalantly.
"Oh, please." Emily scoffed, checking her nails before turning her back on them both. "I'll tell you if I remember anything. In the mean time I'll go to my common room. I'm tired." She made to leave.
"Emily, stop." Callista said with an air of authority.
Emily blinked, looking back at her friend without a word.
"Come back here. Let's do as he says so we may go and rest." Continued Callista with finality.
Emily had never heard Callista so serious and authoritative before. It rather scared her. "Okay, then." She spoke lowly, not meeting anyone's eyes and biting her lip angrily.
So they closed their eyes and thought back to the day they were attacked. They could remember everything they'd done throughout the day, but it seemed some spots were too blurry to remember. The nights' events too hazy to distinguish anything, as if they've been cleared away. It was a transparent wall blocking their path and making the scenes fuzzy, like looking through fogged glass.
But two things were clear to them. A goal different to each other. It was an itch in their brains, the only thing that could relieve it was if they accomplished their assignments.
They couldn't mention them aloud. An unspoken secret.
